# CVE-2025-38647: wifi: rtw89: sar: drop lockdep assertion in rtw89_set_sar_from_acpi

> A lockdep assertion failure in the rtw89 WiFi driver during initialization can cause a kernel warning, potentially leading to system instability or 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:** 22 Aug 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-38647, GHSA-3v8v-6j5m-3mhg, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38647

## What is CVE-2025-38647?

CVE-2025-38647 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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: rtw89: sar: drop lockdep assertion in rtw89_set_sar_from_acpi

The following assertion is triggered on the rtw89 driver startup. It
looks meaningless to hold wiphy lock on the early init stage so drop the
assertion.

 WARNING: CPU: 7 PID: 629 at drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/sar.c:502 rtw89_set_sar_from_acpi+0x365/0x4d0 [rtw89_core]
 CPU: 7 UID: 0 PID: 629 Comm: (udev-worker) Not tainted 6.15.0+ #29 PREEMPT(lazy)
 Hardware name: LENOVO 21D0/LNVNB161216, BIOS J6CN50WW 09/27/2024
 RIP: 0010:rtw89_set_sar_from_acpi+0x365/0x4d0 [rtw89_core]
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  rtw89_sar_init+0x68/0x2c0 [rtw89_core]
  rtw89_core_init+0x188e/0x1e50 [rtw89_core]
  rtw89_pci_probe+0x530/0xb50 [rtw89_pci]
  local_pci_probe+0xd9/0x190
  pci_call_probe+0x183/0x540
  pci_device_probe+0x171/0x2c0
  really_probe+0x1e1/0x890
  __driver_probe_device+0x18c/0x390
  driver_probe_device+0x4a/0x120
  __driver_attach+0x1a0/0x530
  bus_for_each_dev+0x10b/0x190
  bus_add_driver+0x2eb/0x540
  driver_register+0x1a3/0x3a0
  do_one_initcall+0xd5/0x450
  do_init_module+0x2cc/0x8f0
  init_module_from_file+0xe1/0x150
  idempotent_init_module+0x226/0x760
  __x64_sys_finit_module+0xcd/0x150
  do_syscall_64+0x94/0x380
  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e

Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org).

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38647?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38647?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38647 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38647 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-2025-38647 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38647 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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-2025-38647 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-2025-38647/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38647/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38647
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38647
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38647

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38647/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.