# CVE-2025-38284: wifi: rtw89: pci: configure manual DAC mode via PCI config API only > A null pointer dereference in the rtw89 PCI driver causes a kernel crash during device probe, leading to denial of service. - **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Any signed-in user - **Attackable:** Local or same network only - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 10 Jul 2025 - **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-38284, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38284, GHSA-v8q6-wc9p-p5fc, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-38284, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38284 ## What is CVE-2025-38284? CVE-2025-38284 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 10 Jul 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. ### Official description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: rtw89: pci: configure manual DAC mode via PCI config API only To support 36-bit DMA, configure chip proprietary bit via PCI config API or chip DBI interface. However, the PCI device mmap isn't set yet and the DBI is also inaccessible via mmap, so only if the bit can be accessible via PCI config API, chip can support 36-bit DMA. Otherwise, fallback to 32-bit DMA. With NULL mmap address, kernel throws trace: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 0000000000001090 #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0002 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 71 Comm: irq/26-pciehp Tainted: G OE 6.14.2-061402-generic #202504101348 Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE, [E]=UNSIGNED_MODULE RIP: 0010:rtw89_pci_ops_write16+0x12/0x30 [rtw89_pci] RSP: 0018:ffffb0ffc0acf9d8 EFLAGS: 00010206 RAX: ffffffffc158f9c0 RBX: ffff94865e702020 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000718 RSI: 0000000000001090 RDI: ffff94865e702020 RBP: ffffb0ffc0acf9d8 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000015 R13: 0000000000000719 R14: ffffb0ffc0acfa1f R15: ffffffffc1813060 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff9486f3480000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000001090 CR3: 0000000090440001 CR4: 00000000000626f0 Call Trace: rtw89_pci_read_config_byte+0x6d/0x120 [rtw89_pci] rtw89_pci_cfg_dac+0x5b/0xb0 [rtw89_pci] rtw89_pci_probe+0xa96/0xbd0 [rtw89_pci] ? __pfx___device_attach_driver+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx___device_attach_driver+0x10/0x10 local_pci_probe+0x47/0xa0 pci_call_probe+0x5d/0x190 pci_device_probe+0xa7/0x160 really_probe+0xf9/0x370 ? pm_runtime_barrier+0x55/0xa0 __driver_probe_device+0x8c/0x140 driver_probe_device+0x24/0xd0 __device_attach_driver+0xcd/0x170 bus_for_each_drv+0x99/0x100 __device_attach+0xb4/0x1d0 device_attach+0x10/0x20 pci_bus_add_device+0x59/0x90 pci_bus_add_devices+0x31/0x80 pciehp_configure_device+0xaa/0x170 pciehp_enable_slot+0xd6/0x240 pciehp_handle_presence_or_link_change+0xf1/0x180 pciehp_ist+0x162/0x1c0 irq_thread_fn+0x24/0x70 irq_thread+0xef/0x1c0 ? __pfx_irq_thread_fn+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_irq_thread_dtor+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_irq_thread+0x10/0x10 kthread+0xfc/0x230 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x47/0x70 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38284? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2025-38284? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2025-38284 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38284 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel - [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2025-38284 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2025-38284 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 10 Jul 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38284 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page. Task: 1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies. 2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it. 3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead. 4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why. 5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing. Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38284/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38284/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38284 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38284 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38284 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38284/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.