dbcve.org
Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38647

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-22
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
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: 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).

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:= 6.16

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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.17 or later (which includes the fix from commit 6fe21445f7e801de5527d420f8e25e97b0cdd7e2)

  1. Obtain the fixed kernel source that includes commit 6fe21445f7e801de5527d420f8e25e97b0cdd7e2, which removes the lockdep assertion in rtw89_set_sar_from_acpi.
  2. Alternatively, apply the specific commit directly: cherry-pick or backport commit 6fe21445f7e801de5527d420f8e25e97b0cdd7e2 to your kernel source tree.
  3. Rebuild the kernel with the fix applied.
  4. Deploy the updated kernel and reboot the system.
  5. Verify the rtw89 driver loads without the lockdep WARNING by checking dmesg for messages from rtw89_set_sar_from_acpi.
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding other kernel modules; ensure driver compatibility with the new kernel version

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

We can apply and verify the patch for your build — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the patch applied

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-38647 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-38647 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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