# CVE-2025-38601: wifi: ath11k: clear initialized flag for deinit-ed srng lists > A missing flag reset in the ath11k WiFi driver causes kernel panics during resume after firmware crashes, 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:** 19 Aug 2025 - **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026 - **Also known as:** AZL-66506, BELL-CVE-2025-38601, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38601, GHSA-pcv5-jjwm-3j29, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38601, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38601, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-38601, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38601, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38601, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38601 ## What is CVE-2025-38601? CVE-2025-38601 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 19 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: wifi: ath11k: clear initialized flag for deinit-ed srng lists In a number of cases we see kernel panics on resume due to ath11k kernel page fault, which happens under the following circumstances: 1) First ath11k_hal_dump_srng_stats() call Last interrupt received for each group: ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 0 22511ms before ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 1 14440788ms before [..] ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: failed to receive control response completion, polling.. ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: Service connect timeout ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: failed to connect to HTT: -110 ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: failed to start core: -110 ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: firmware crashed: MHI_CB_EE_RDDM ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: already resetting count 2 ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: failed to wait wlan mode request (mode 4): -110 ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: qmi failed to send wlan mode off: -110 ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: failed to reconfigure driver on crash recovery [..] 2) At this point reconfiguration fails (we have 2 resets) and ath11k_core_reconfigure_on_crash() calls ath11k_hal_srng_deinit() which destroys srng lists. However, it does not reset per-list ->initialized flag. 3) Second ath11k_hal_dump_srng_stats() call sees stale ->initialized flag and attempts to dump srng stats: Last interrupt received for each group: ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 0 66785ms before ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 1 14485062ms before ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 2 14485062ms before ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 3 14485062ms before ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 4 14780845ms before ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 5 14780845ms before ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 6 14485062ms before ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 7 66814ms before ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 8 68997ms before ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 9 67588ms before ath11k_pci 0000:01:00.0: group_id 10 69511ms before BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffa007404eb010 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page PGD 100000067 P4D 100000067 PUD 10022d067 PMD 100b01067 PTE 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI RIP: 0010:ath11k_hal_dump_srng_stats+0x2b4/0x3b0 [ath11k] Call Trace: ? __die_body+0xae/0xb0 ? page_fault_oops+0x381/0x3e0 ? exc_page_fault+0x69/0xa0 ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30 ? ath11k_hal_dump_srng_stats+0x2b4/0x3b0 [ath11k (HASH:6cea 4)] ath11k_qmi_driver_event_work+0xbd/0x1050 [ath11k (HASH:6cea 4)] worker_thread+0x389/0x930 kthread+0x149/0x170 Clear per-list ->initialized flag in ath11k_hal_srng_deinit(). Weakness: CWE-909 (Missing Initialization of Resource) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38601? It affects 2 products. Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2025-38601? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2025-38601 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38601 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux - [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2025-38601 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2025-38601 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 19 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-2025-38601 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2025-38601/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38601/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38601 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38601 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38601 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38601/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.