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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-37973

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.6.91 / 6.12.29 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cfg80211: fix out-of-bounds access during multi-link element defragmentation Currently during the multi-link element defragmentation process, the multi-link element length added to the total IEs length when calculating the length of remaining IEs after the multi-link element in cfg80211_defrag_mle(). This could lead to out-of-bounds access if the multi-link element or its corresponding fragment elements are the last elements in the IEs buffer. To address this issue, correctly calculate the remaining IEs length by deducting the multi-link element end offset from total IEs end offset.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-125

The code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds read class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 6.5, < 6.6.91>= 6.7, < 6.12.29>= 6.13, < 6.14.7= 6.15

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.6.91 / 6.12.29 / 6.14.7 or later
Fixed in 6.6.916.12.296.14.7
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.6.91 (for 6.5-6.6 kernels), 6.12.29 (for 6.7-6.12 kernels), or 6.14.7 (for 6.13-6.14 kernels)

  1. 1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. 2. Based on the running version, upgrade to the minimum fixed release: If running 6.5.x-6.6.x, upgrade to 6.6.91 or later; If running 6.7.x-6.12.x, upgrade to 6.12.29 or later; If running 6.13.x-6.14.x, upgrade to 6.14.7 or later; If running 6.15.x, upgrade to the latest stable 6.15.y release or wait for 6.16 if available
  3. 3. For distribution kernels (e.g., Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL), check if a vendor security update is available via 'apt list --upgradable' or 'yum updateinfo'
  4. 4. Apply the kernel upgrade using the distribution's package manager (e.g., 'sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade linux-image-generic' or 'sudo yum update kernel')
  5. 5. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  6. 6. Verify the new kernel version is loaded using 'uname -r'
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebooting services and could introduce compatibility issues with out-of-tree kernel modules or proprietary drivers

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,200. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-37973 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data