# CVE-2025-38532: net: libwx: properly reset Rx ring descriptor
> A flaw in the libwx network driver causes kernel crashes when resetting Rx rings, leading to denial of service.
- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 16 Aug 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-38532, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38532, GHSA-4c9q-7835-998j, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-38532, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38532, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38532
## What is CVE-2025-38532?
CVE-2025-38532 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Aug 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:
net: libwx: properly reset Rx ring descriptor
When device reset is triggered by feature changes such as toggling Rx
VLAN offload, wx->do_reset() is called to reinitialize Rx rings. The
hardware descriptor ring may retain stale values from previous sessions.
And only set the length to 0 in rx_desc[0] would result in building
malformed SKBs. Fix it to ensure a clean slate after device reset.
[ 549.186435] [ C16] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[ 549.186457] [ C16] kernel BUG at net/core/skbuff.c:2814!
[ 549.186468] [ C16] Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
[ 549.186472] [ C16] CPU: 16 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/16 Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.16.0-rc4+ #23 PREEMPT(voluntary)
[ 549.186476] [ C16] Hardware name: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. MS-7E16/X670E GAMING PLUS WIFI (MS-7E16), BIOS 1.90 12/31/2024
[ 549.186478] [ C16] RIP: 0010:__pskb_pull_tail+0x3ff/0x510
[ 549.186484] [ C16] Code: 06 f0 ff 4f 34 74 7b 4d 8b 8c 24 c8 00 00 00 45 8b 84 24 c0 00 00 00 e9 c8 fd ff ff 48 c7 44 24 08 00 00 00 00 e9 5e fe ff ff <0f> 0b 31 c0 e9 23 90 5b ff 41 f7 c6 ff 0f 00 00 75 bf 49 8b 06 a8
[ 549.186487] [ C16] RSP: 0018:ffffb391c0640d70 EFLAGS: 00010282
[ 549.186490] [ C16] RAX: 00000000fffffff2 RBX: ffff8fe7e4d40200 RCX: 00000000fffffff2
[ 549.186492] [ C16] RDX: ffff8fe7c3a4bf8e RSI: 0000000000000180 RDI: ffff8fe7c3a4bf40
[ 549.186494] [ C16] RBP: ffffb391c0640da8 R08: ffff8fe7c3a4c0c0 R09: 000000000000000e
[ 549.186496] [ C16] R10: ffffb391c0640d88 R11: 000000000000000e R12: ffff8fe7e4d40200
[ 549.186497] [ C16] R13: 00000000fffffff2 R14: ffff8fe7fa01a000 R15: 00000000fffffff2
[ 549.186499] [ C16] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8fef5ae40000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[ 549.186502] [ C16] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[ 549.186503] [ C16] CR2: 00007f77d81d6000 CR3: 000000051a032000 CR4: 0000000000750ef0
[ 549.186505] [ C16] PKRU: 55555554
[ 549.186507] [ C16] Call Trace:
[ 549.186510] [ C16]
[ 549.186513] [ C16] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[ 549.186517] [ C16] __skb_pad+0xc7/0xf0
[ 549.186523] [ C16] wx_clean_rx_irq+0x355/0x3b0 [libwx]
[ 549.186533] [ C16] wx_poll+0x92/0x120 [libwx]
[ 549.186540] [ C16] __napi_poll+0x28/0x190
[ 549.186544] [ C16] net_rx_action+0x301/0x3f0
[ 549.186548] [ C16] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[ 549.186551] [ C16] ? __raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x1e/0x50
[ 549.186554] [ C16] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[ 549.186557] [ C16] ? wake_up_nohz_cpu+0x35/0x160
[ 549.186559] [ C16] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[ 549.186563] [ C16] handle_softirqs+0xf9/0x2c0
[ 549.186568] [ C16] __irq_exit_rcu+0xc7/0x130
[ 549.186572] [ C16] common_interrupt+0xb8/0xd0
[ 549.186576] [ C16]
[ 549.186577] [ C16]
[ 549.186579] [ C16] asm_common_interrupt+0x22/0x40
[ 549.186582] [ C16] RIP: 0010:cpuidle_enter_state+0xc2/0x420
[ 549.186585] [ C16] Code: 00 00 e8 11 0e 5e ff e8 ac f0 ff ff 49 89 c5 0f 1f 44 00 00 31 ff e8 0d ed 5c ff 45 84 ff 0f 85 40 02 00 00 fb 0f 1f 44 00 00 <45> 85 f6 0f 88 84 01 00 00 49 63 d6 48 8d 04 52 48 8d 04 82 49 8d
[ 549.186587] [ C16] RSP: 0018:ffffb391c0277e78 EFLAGS: 00000246
[ 549.186590] [ C16] RAX: ffff8fef5ae40000 RBX: 0000000000000003 RCX: 0000000000000000
[ 549.186591] [ C16] RDX: 0000007fde0faac5 RSI: ffffffff826e53f6 RDI: ffffffff826fa9b3
[ 549.186593] [ C16] RBP: ffff8fe7c3a20800 R08: 0000000000000002 R09: 0000000000000000
[ 549.186595] [ C16] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 000000000000ffff R12: ffffffff82ed7a40
[ 549.186596] [ C16] R13: 0000007fde0faac5 R14: 0000000000000003 R15: 0000000000000000
[ 549.186601] [ C16] ? cpuidle_enter_state+0xb3/0x420
[ 549.186605] [ C16] cpuidle_en
---truncated---
Weakness: CWE-909 (Missing Initialization of Resource)
## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38532?
It affects 1 product.
Products: Linux kernel.
## How do I fix CVE-2025-38532?
Apply the vendor's patch.
## Is CVE-2025-38532 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38532 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-2025-38532 and fix it if it is affected.
What it is: CVE-2025-38532 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Aug 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-2025-38532 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-2025-38532/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38532/index.md)
```
## Sources
- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38532
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38532
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38532
---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38532/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.