Exynos 980 FirmwareOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2025-54601

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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
An issue was discovered in the Wi-Fi driver in Samsung Mobile Processor amd Wearable Processor Exynos 980, 850, 1080, 1280, 1330, 1380, 1480, 1580, W920, W930, and W1000. Improper synchronization on a global variable leads to a double free. An attacker can trigger a race condition by invoking an ioctl function concurrently from multiple threads.

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 · high confidence

A race condition in the Samsung Exynos Wi-Fi driver occurs when multiple threads concurrently invoke ioctl functions. Due to improper synchronization on a global variable, the same memory can be freed twice (double-free), leading to memory corruption that could be exploited for local privilege escalation or denial of service.

MitigationThe vulnerability requires driver-level remediation: add proper mutex or spinlock synchronization around the global variable accessed by ioctl to prevent concurrent access. Samsung will need to release a firmware or driver patch for affected devices.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Exynos 980 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Exynos 850 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Exynos 1080 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Exynos 1280 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Exynos 1330 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Exynos 1380 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Exynos 1480 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Exynos 1580 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions

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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the Exynos processor model
    Check /proc/cpuinfo or device tree (DT) on the device to determine the exact Exynos chipset (e.g., 980, 850, 1080, 1280, 1330, 1380, 1480, 1580, W920, W930, W1000)
    Affected if The processor is any of: Exynos 980, 850, 1080, 1280, 1330, 1380, 1480, 1580, W920, W930, or W1000
  2. Confirm Wi-Fi driver is loaded
    Check if the Wi-Fi driver module for the Exynos Wi-Fi subsystem is loaded (lsmod | grep -i exynos or check wlan driver status in /sys/kernel/debug)
    Affected if The Exynos Wi-Fi driver module is active and running
  3. Check Wi-Fi firmware version
    Read the Wi-Fi firmware version from the driver debug interface or firmware file (e.g., check /sys/class/wlan0/.... or inspect firmware binary files in /lib/firmware)
    Affected if Any firmware version is present on an affected Exynos model (all versions are vulnerable)
  4. Determine if concurrent ioctl access is possible
    Audit the system's threading model and Wi-Fi daemon configuration to see if multiple threads/processes can invoke Wi-Fi ioctl calls simultaneously (review Wi-Fi manager service and concurrent connection settings)
    Affected if Multiple threads or processes can invoke Wi-Fi ioctl functions concurrently on the device

A device is affected if it uses any of the listed Exynos processors (980, 850, 1080, 1280, 1330, 1380, 1480, 1580, W920, W930, W1000) with an active Wi-Fi driver, regardless of firmware version, and if concurrent ioctl access to the Wi-Fi driver is possible.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

The vulnerability requires driver-level remediation: add proper mutex or spinlock synchronization around the global variable accessed by ioctl to prevent concurrent access. Samsung will need to release a firmware or driver patch for affected devices.

Fix this in Exynos 980 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,260
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-54601 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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