HIGH
thermal Zone UAF
CVE-2026-31731
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
KernelScan AI5.5MEDIUM
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: thermal: core: Address thermal zone removal races with resume Since thermal_zone_pm_complete() and thermal_zone_device_resume() re-initialize the poll_queue delayed work for the given thermal zone, the cancel_delayed_work_sync() in thermal_zone_device_unregister() may miss some already running work items and the thermal zone may be freed prematurely [1]. There are two failing scenarios that both start with running thermal_pm_notify_complete() right before invoking thermal_zone_device_unregister() for one of the thermal zones. In the first scenario, there is a work item already running for the given thermal zone when thermal_pm_notify_complete() calls thermal_zone_pm_complete() for that thermal zone and it continues to run when thermal_zone_device_unregister() starts. Since the poll_queue delayed work has been re-initialized by thermal_pm_notify_complete(), the running work item will be missed by the cancel_delayed_work_sync() in thermal_zone_device_unregister() and if it continues to run past the freeing of the thermal zone object, a use-after-free will occur. In the second scenario, thermal_zone_device_resume() queued up by thermal_pm_notify_complete() runs right after the thermal_zone_exit() called by thermal_zone_device_unregister() has returned. The poll_queue delayed work is re-initialized by it before cancel_delayed_work_sync() is called by thermal_zone_device_unregister(), so it may continue to run after the freeing of the thermal zone object, which also leads to a use-after-free. Address the first failing scenario by ensuring that no thermal work items will be running when thermal_pm_notify_complete() is called. For this purpose, first move the cancel_delayed_work() call from thermal_zone_pm_complete() to thermal_zone_pm_prepare() to prevent new work from entering the workqueue going forward. Next, switch over to using a dedicated workqueue for thermal events and update the code in thermal_pm_notify() to flush that workqueue after thermal_pm_notify_prepare() has returned which will take care of all leftover thermal work already on the workqueue (that leftover work would do nothing useful anyway because all of the thermal zones have been flagged as suspended). The second failing scenario is addressed by adding a tz->state check to thermal_zone_device_resume() to prevent it from re-initializing the poll_queue delayed work if the thermal zone is going away. Note that the above changes will also facilitate relocating the suspend and resume of thermal zones closer to the suspend and resume of devices, respectively.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
Local users with low privileges can trigger a use-after-free in the thermal subsystem during system suspend/resume cycles, potentially causing kernel crashes. The vulnerability affects systems with thermal management enabled and requires the ability to trigger thermal zone registration/unregistration during power management transitions.
Vulnerability analysis
The root cause is a race condition between thermal zone removal and power management resume operations. When thermal_zone_device_unregister() is called during or shortly after thermal_pm_notify_complete(), the cancel_delayed_work_sync() call may miss already running work items because the poll_queue delayed work gets re-initialized by thermal_zone_pm_complete() or thermal_zone_device_resume(). This allows work items to continue executing after the thermal zone object is freed, leading to use-after-free. The fix addresses this by moving work cancellation earlier in the suspend process, introducing a dedicated workqueue with proper flushing, and adding state checks to prevent work re-initialization during thermal zone removal.
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.12 | 6.12.83 | 1a6d2b001eb7 |
| 6.18 | 6.18.22 | 2dbe93f344f1 |
| 6.19 | 6.19.12 | c4593f1654f7 |
| mainline | 7.0 | 45b859b07282 |