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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38505

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.39 / 6.15.7 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: mwifiex: discard erroneous disassoc frames on STA interface When operating in concurrent STA/AP mode with host MLME enabled, the firmware incorrectly sends disassociation frames to the STA interface when clients disconnect from the AP interface. This causes kernel warnings as the STA interface processes disconnect events that don't apply to it: [ 1303.240540] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 513 at net/wireless/mlme.c:141 cfg80211_process_disassoc+0x78/0xec [cfg80211] [ 1303.250861] Modules linked in: 8021q garp stp mrp llc rfcomm bnep btnxpuart nls_iso8859_1 nls_cp437 onboard_us [ 1303.327651] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 513 Comm: kworker/u9:2 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc1+ #3 PREEMPT [ 1303.335937] Hardware name: Toradex Verdin AM62 WB on Verdin Development Board (DT) [ 1303.343588] Workqueue: MWIFIEX_RX_WORK_QUEUE mwifiex_rx_work_queue [mwifiex] [ 1303.350856] pstate: 60000005 (nZCv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 1303.357904] pc : cfg80211_process_disassoc+0x78/0xec [cfg80211] [ 1303.364065] lr : cfg80211_process_disassoc+0x70/0xec [cfg80211] [ 1303.370221] sp : ffff800083053be0 [ 1303.373590] x29: ffff800083053be0 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: 0000000000000000 [ 1303.380855] x26: 0000000000000000 x25: 00000000ffffffff x24: ffff000002c5b8ae [ 1303.388120] x23: ffff000002c5b884 x22: 0000000000000001 x21: 0000000000000008 [ 1303.395382] x20: ffff000002c5b8ae x19: ffff0000064dd408 x18: 0000000000000006 [ 1303.402646] x17: 3a36333a61623a30 x16: 32206d6f72662063 x15: ffff800080bfe048 [ 1303.409910] x14: ffff000003625300 x13: 0000000000000001 x12: 0000000000000000 [ 1303.417173] x11: 0000000000000002 x10: ffff000003958600 x9 : ffff000003625300 [ 1303.424434] x8 : ffff00003fd9ef40 x7 : ffff0000039fc280 x6 : 0000000000000002 [ 1303.431695] x5 : ffff0000038976d4 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000003186 [ 1303.438956] x2 : 000000004836ba20 x1 : 0000000000006986 x0 : 00000000d00479de [ 1303.446221] Call trace: [ 1303.448722] cfg80211_process_disassoc+0x78/0xec [cfg80211] (P) [ 1303.454894] cfg80211_rx_mlme_mgmt+0x64/0xf8 [cfg80211] [ 1303.460362] mwifiex_process_mgmt_packet+0x1ec/0x460 [mwifiex] [ 1303.466380] mwifiex_process_sta_rx_packet+0x1bc/0x2a0 [mwifiex] [ 1303.472573] mwifiex_handle_rx_packet+0xb4/0x13c [mwifiex] [ 1303.478243] mwifiex_rx_work_queue+0x158/0x198 [mwifiex] [ 1303.483734] process_one_work+0x14c/0x28c [ 1303.487845] worker_thread+0x2cc/0x3d4 [ 1303.491680] kthread+0x12c/0x208 [ 1303.495014] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Add validation in the STA receive path to verify that disassoc/deauth frames originate from the connected AP. Frames that fail this check are discarded early, preventing them from reaching the MLME layer and triggering WARN_ON(). This filtering logic is similar with that used in the ieee80211_rx_mgmt_disassoc() function in mac80211, which drops disassoc frames that don't match the current BSSID (!ether_addr_equal(mgmt->bssid, sdata->vif.cfg.ap_addr)), ensuring only relevant frames are processed. Tested on: - 8997 with FW 16.68.1.p197

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:>= 6.12, < 6.12.39>= 6.13, < 6.15.7= 6.16

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 6.12.39 / 6.15.7 or later
Fixed in 6.12.396.15.7
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.12.39+ (for 6.12.x), 6.15.7+ (for 6.13.x/6.14.x), or 6.16.1+ (for 6.16.x)

  1. Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. If running 6.12.x and version < 6.12.39, upgrade to 6.12.39 or later
  3. If running 6.13.x or 6.14.x, upgrade to 6.15.7 or later
  4. If running 6.16.x, upgrade to 6.16.1 or later
  5. Reboot the system to apply the new kernel
  6. Verify the fix by running `uname -r` and confirming the version is >= the fixed release for your branch
Caveat Standard kernel upgrade risks apply (potential driver compatibility issues with third-party modules); ensure backup and test in non-production environment first

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-2025-38505 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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