CVE-2026-46001: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hwmon: (pt5161l) Fix bugs in pt5161l_read_block_data() Fix two bugs in pt5161l_read_block_data(): 1. Buffer overrun: The local buffer rbuf is declared as u8 rbuf[24], but i2c_smbus_read_block_data() can return up to I2C_SMBUS_BLOCK_MAX (32) bytes. The i2c-core copies the data into the caller's buffer before the return value can be checked, so the post-read length validation does not prevent a stack overrun if a device returns more than 24 bytes. Resize the buffer to I2C_SMBUS_BLOCK_MAX. 2. Unexpected positive return on length mismatch: When all three retries are exhausted because the device returns data with an unexpected length, i2c_smbus_read_block_data() returns a positive byte count. The function returns this directly, and callers treat any non-negative return as success, processing stale or incomplete buffer contents. Return -EIO when retries are exhausted with a positive return value, preserving the negative error code on I2C failure.

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2026-46001, a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) affecting linux kernel, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether linux kernel is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
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