The vulnerability arises from an incorrect handling of device references in the Intel Thermal (intel_th) driver. Each successful open of an MSC output device increments a reference count that is never decremented because the correct release path does not drop the reference. This leak leads to a gradual increase in the number of held device references, potentially exhausting kernel memory or other resources and resulting in a denial‑of‑service condition. The weakness is a reference leak, classified under CWE‑912.

The affected product is the Linux kernel. Any system running a kernel version that includes the buggy intel_th driver code (prior to the patch identified by commit 95fc36a234da) is impacted. No specific vendor or version string is given, so all installations of the Linux kernel before the fix are considered vulnerable.

The EPSS score is unavailable, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. The attack vector is inferred to be local: a privileged or local user can open MSC output files repeatedly to consume kernel resources. Because the leak accumulates only when the driver’s open operation is executed, exploitation requires repeated opens and may require sustained usage over time to trigger a resource exhaustion. Given the lack of publicly documented exploitation and the local nature of the impact, the risk is moderate, but it could be severe in environments with high volumes of MSC output traffic.