CVE-2026-46202

Local denial of service via atomic mutex lock

Published May 28, 2026 · Updated May 28, 2026

Improper locking in Linux Kernel 6.15 through 6.18.31 and 6.19 through 7.0.8 allows local users to interrupt service. The hid-appletb-kbd inactivity and brightness-reset paths call backlight_device_set_brightness(), which takes ops_lock through mutex_lock(), from softirq or IRQ context where sleeping is illegal. Timer expiry or activity after dimming triggers a kernel BUG warning and availability loss when the driver and Apple Touch Bar hardware are present.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.13%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper locking in Linux Kernel 6.15 through 6.18.31 and 6.19 through 7.0.8 allows local users to interrupt service. The hid-appletb-kbd inactivity and brightness-reset paths call backlight_device_set_brightness(), which takes ops_lock through mutex_lock(), from softirq or IRQ context where sleeping is illegal. Timer expiry or activity after dimming triggers a kernel BUG warning and availability loss when the driver and Apple Touch Bar hardware are present.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-46202
Published
May 28, 2026
Updated
May 28, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 28, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=6.15
  2. Affected versionversion=93a0fc48948107e0cc34e1de22c3cb363a8f2783 <1654e53349d4e657b331de354313461f401f5063
  3. Affected versionversion=93a0fc48948107e0cc34e1de22c3cb363a8f2783 <2473a334c292af257ef68e33bc7760f4a8251812
  4. Affected versionversion=93a0fc48948107e0cc34e1de22c3cb363a8f2783 <5c0830323689ef15224f0025276176988861b3b0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=6.15; version=93a0fc48948107e0cc34e1de22c3cb363a8f2783 <1654e53349d4e657b331de354313461f401f5063; version=93a0fc48948107e0cc34e1de22c3cb363a8f2783 <2473a334c292af257ef68e33bc7760f4a8251812; version=93a0fc48948107e0cc34e1de22c3cb363a8f2783 <5c0830323689ef15224f0025276176988861b3b0

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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