Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38009

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-06-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.238 / 5.15.184 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
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: mt76: disable napi on driver removal A warning on driver removal started occurring after commit 9dd05df8403b ("net: warn if NAPI instance wasn't shut down"). Disable tx napi before deleting it in mt76_dma_cleanup(). WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 18828 at net/core/dev.c:7288 __netif_napi_del_locked+0xf0/0x100 CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 18828 Comm: modprobe Not tainted 6.15.0-rc4 #4 PREEMPT(lazy) Hardware name: ASUS System Product Name/PRIME X670E-PRO WIFI, BIOS 3035 09/05/2024 RIP: 0010:__netif_napi_del_locked+0xf0/0x100 Call Trace: <TASK> mt76_dma_cleanup+0x54/0x2f0 [mt76] mt7921_pci_remove+0xd5/0x190 [mt7921e] pci_device_remove+0x47/0xc0 device_release_driver_internal+0x19e/0x200 driver_detach+0x48/0x90 bus_remove_driver+0x6d/0xf0 pci_unregister_driver+0x2e/0xb0 __do_sys_delete_module.isra.0+0x197/0x2e0 do_syscall_64+0x7b/0x160 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e Tested with mt7921e but the same pattern can be actually applied to other mt76 drivers calling mt76_dma_cleanup() during removal. Tx napi is enabled in their *_dma_init() functions and only toggled off and on again inside their suspend/resume/reset paths. So it should be okay to disable tx napi in such a generic way. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org).

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:>= 5.2, < 5.10.238>= 5.11, < 5.15.184>= 5.16, < 6.1.140>= 6.2, < 6.6.92>= 6.7, < 6.12.30>= 6.13, < 6.14.8= 6.15
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 5.10.238 / 5.15.184 / 6.1.140 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2385.15.1846.1.140
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 5.10.238, 5.15.184, 6.1.140, or 6.6.92 (or later stable release) depending on your current kernel branch. For Debian 11, apply Debian-specific kernel updates or upgrade to Debian 12.

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which kernel branch your version belongs to (5.10.x, 5.15.x, 6.1.x, or 6.2-6.6.x)
  3. Update the system package repository: `apt update` (Debian) or use your distribution's package manager
  4. Upgrade the kernel to the fixed version: For 5.10.x series upgrade to >= 5.10.238, for 5.15.x upgrade to >= 5.15.184, for 6.1.x upgrade to >= 6.1.140, for 6.2-6.6.x upgrade to >= 6.6.92
  5. Reboot the system to load the new kernel: `reboot`
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the mt76 driver loads without warnings
Caveat Standard kernel upgrade risks apply - ensure compatibility with custom modules, drivers, and system configurations before deploying in production.

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 $1,600. 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-2025-38009 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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