# CVE-2025-38291: wifi: ath12k: Prevent sending WMI commands to firmware during firmware crash

> A flaw in the ath12k WiFi driver causes a kernel crash when sending commands during firmware recovery, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 10 Jul 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-38291, GHSA-j45q-p2r4-75m3, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38291

## What is CVE-2025-38291?

CVE-2025-38291 is a high-severity denial of service 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: Prevent sending WMI commands to firmware during firmware crash

Currently, we encounter the following kernel call trace when a firmware
crash occurs. This happens because the host sends WMI commands to the
firmware while it is in recovery, causing the commands to fail and
resulting in the kernel call trace.

Set the ATH12K_FLAG_CRASH_FLUSH and ATH12K_FLAG_RECOVERY flags when the
host driver receives the firmware crash notification from MHI. This
prevents sending WMI commands to the firmware during recovery.

Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 dump_stack_lvl+0x75/0xc0
 register_lock_class+0x6be/0x7a0
 ? __lock_acquire+0x644/0x19a0
 __lock_acquire+0x95/0x19a0
 lock_acquire+0x265/0x310
 ? ath12k_ce_send+0xa2/0x210 [ath12k]
 ? find_held_lock+0x34/0xa0
 ? ath12k_ce_send+0x56/0x210 [ath12k]
 _raw_spin_lock_bh+0x33/0x70
 ? ath12k_ce_send+0xa2/0x210 [ath12k]
 ath12k_ce_send+0xa2/0x210 [ath12k]
 ath12k_htc_send+0x178/0x390 [ath12k]
 ath12k_wmi_cmd_send_nowait+0x76/0xa0 [ath12k]
 ath12k_wmi_cmd_send+0x62/0x190 [ath12k]
 ath12k_wmi_pdev_bss_chan_info_request+0x62/0xc0 [ath1
 ath12k_mac_op_get_survey+0x2be/0x310 [ath12k]
 ieee80211_dump_survey+0x99/0x240 [mac80211]
 nl80211_dump_survey+0xe7/0x470 [cfg80211]
 ? kmalloc_reserve+0x59/0xf0
 genl_dumpit+0x24/0x70
 netlink_dump+0x177/0x360
 __netlink_dump_start+0x206/0x280
 genl_family_rcv_msg_dumpit.isra.22+0x8a/0xe0
 ? genl_family_rcv_msg_attrs_parse.isra.23+0xe0/0xe0
 ? genl_op_lock.part.12+0x10/0x10
 ? genl_dumpit+0x70/0x70
 genl_rcv_msg+0x1d0/0x290
 ? nl80211_del_station+0x330/0x330 [cfg80211]
 ? genl_get_cmd_both+0x50/0x50
 netlink_rcv_skb+0x4f/0x100
 genl_rcv+0x1f/0x30
 netlink_unicast+0x1b6/0x260
 netlink_sendmsg+0x31a/0x450
 __sock_sendmsg+0xa8/0xb0
 ____sys_sendmsg+0x1e4/0x260
 ___sys_sendmsg+0x89/0xe0
 ? local_clock_noinstr+0xb/0xc0
 ? rcu_is_watching+0xd/0x40
 ? kfree+0x1de/0x370
 ? __sys_sendmsg+0x7a/0xc0

Tested-on: QCN9274 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.WBE.1.4.1-00199-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1

Weakness: CWE-670 (Always-Incorrect Control Flow Implementation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38291?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38291?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38291 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38291 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-2025-38291 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38291 is a high-severity denial of service 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-2025-38291 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-2025-38291/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38291/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38291
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38291
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38291

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38291/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.