CVE-2025-38290 wifi: ath12k: fix node corruption in ar->arvifs list
A race condition in the ath12k WiFi driver causes kernel panic during WLAN recovery, leading to denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2025-38290?
CVE-2025-38290 is a high-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: ath12k: fix node corruption in ar->arvifs list
In current WLAN recovery code flow, ath12k_core_halt() only reinitializes the "arvifs" list head. This will cause the list node immediately following the list head to become an invalid list node. Because the prev of that node still points to the list head "arvifs", but the next of the list head "arvifs" no longer points to that list node.
When a WLAN recovery occurs during the execution of a vif removal, and it happens before the spin_lock_bh(&ar->data_lock) in ath12k_mac_vdev_delete(), list_del() will detect the previously mentioned situation, thereby triggering a kernel panic.
The fix is to remove and reinitialize all vif list nodes from the list head "arvifs" during WLAN halt. The reinitialization is to make the list nodes valid, ensuring that the list_del() in ath12k_mac_vdev_delete() can execute normally.
Call trace: __list_del_entry_valid_or_report+0xd4/0x100 (P) ath12k_mac_remove_link_interface.isra.0+0xf8/0x2e4 [ath12k] ath12k_scan_vdev_clean_work+0x40/0x164 [ath12k] cfg80211_wiphy_work+0xfc/0x100 process_one_work+0x164/0x2d0 worker_thread+0x254/0x380 kthread+0xfc/0x100 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20
The change is mostly copied from the ath11k patch: https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]/
Tested-on: QCN9274 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.WBE.1.4.1-00199-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38290?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38290?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2025-38290 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38290 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2025-38290, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38290, GHSA-rq3x-gg6j-x3rg, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38290, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38290.