System crash via RSI thread shutdown race
Published May 28, 2026 · Updated May 28, 2026
Use-after-free in the Linux Kernel RSI Wi-Fi driver allows local users to crash the kernel by racing thread shutdown operations. The driver's stop path calls kthread_stop() after kthread_complete_and_exit() can already have freed the same kthread object, causing a stale access. Exploitation requires low-privileged local access, an active RSI Wi-Fi driver, and the rare self-exit-before-external-stop ordering; published impact is limited to service interruption.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in the Linux Kernel RSI Wi-Fi driver allows local users to crash the kernel by racing thread shutdown operations. The driver's stop path calls kthread_stop() after kthread_complete_and_exit() can already have freed the same kthread object, causing a stale access. Exploitation requires low-privileged local access, an active RSI Wi-Fi driver, and the rare self-exit-before-external-stop ordering; published impact is limited to service interruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-46187
- Published
- May 28, 2026
- Updated
- May 28, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- CWE-362, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 28, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 28, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=3.18.139 <3.19
- Affected versionversion=4.14.113 <4.15
- Affected versionversion=4.19.36 <4.20
- Affected versionversion=4.20
- Affected versionversion=4.4.179 <4.5
- Affected versionversion=4.9.170 <4.10
- Affected versionversion=4c62764d0fc21a34ffc44eec1210038c3a2e4473 <16d9f674c619838bdeae42abc0929c9c5477ea1f
- Affected versionversion=4c62764d0fc21a34ffc44eec1210038c3a2e4473 <4f4c9b13c485abd0a2d2c97f9db339d1dd8e147f
- Affected versionversion=4c62764d0fc21a34ffc44eec1210038c3a2e4473 <4f9a4ae8d2c198f01611ea376034c326ef43ab56
- Affected versionversion=4c62764d0fc21a34ffc44eec1210038c3a2e4473 <95fcb436586dc3c2983537d557ac05bbc6a027f3
- Affected versionversion=4c62764d0fc21a34ffc44eec1210038c3a2e4473 <db57a1aa54ff68669781976e4edb045e09e2b65b
- Affected versionversion=ad78e2e057ab8d914a2b5e3e6acf29c3c8a428a3
- Affected versionversion=c8ed05b1d8520f40395916438da9b38ce937a896
- Affected versionversion=d8f70ad66032363e3edceee81a7be2aaccb2d7f5
- Affected versionversion=de1fd69b6541ff61177114d63af7ea719c426cf0
- Affected versionversion=ec759c0015fb7d4f5c7cb5711d2c8905724c7983
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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