{ "dataType": "CVE_RECORD", "dataVersion": "5.2", "cveMetadata": { "cveId": "CVE-2025-38116", "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "state": "PUBLISHED", "assignerShortName": "Linux", "dateReserved": "2025-04-16T04:51:23.986Z", "datePublished": "2025-07-03T08:35:24.413Z", "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T11:59:40.578Z" }, "containers": { "cna": { "providerMetadata": { "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "shortName": "Linux", "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T11:59:40.578Z" }, "descriptions": [ { "lang": "en", "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: ath12k: fix uaf in ath12k_core_init()\n\nWhen the execution of ath12k_core_hw_group_assign() or\nath12k_core_hw_group_create() fails, the registered notifier chain is not\nunregistered properly. Its memory is freed after rmmod, which may trigger\nto a use-after-free (UAF) issue if there is a subsequent access to this\nnotifier chain.\n\nFixes the issue by calling ath12k_core_panic_notifier_unregister() in\nfailure cases.\n\nCall trace:\n notifier_chain_register+0x4c/0x1f0 (P)\n atomic_notifier_chain_register+0x38/0x68\n ath12k_core_init+0x50/0x4e8 [ath12k]\n ath12k_pci_probe+0x5f8/0xc28 [ath12k]\n pci_device_probe+0xbc/0x1a8\n really_probe+0xc8/0x3a0\n __driver_probe_device+0x84/0x1b0\n driver_probe_device+0x44/0x130\n __driver_attach+0xcc/0x208\n bus_for_each_dev+0x84/0x100\n driver_attach+0x2c/0x40\n bus_add_driver+0x130/0x260\n driver_register+0x70/0x138\n __pci_register_driver+0x68/0x80\n ath12k_pci_init+0x30/0x68 [ath12k]\n ath12k_init+0x28/0x78 [ath12k]\n\nTested-on: WCN7850 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.HMT.1.0.c5-00481-QCAHMTSWPL_V1.0_V2.0_SILICONZ-3" } ], "metrics": [ { "cvssV3_1": { "version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H", "baseScore": 7.8, "baseSeverity": "HIGH" }, "scenarios": [ { "lang": "en", "value": "AV:L - The dangling `notifier_block` is created solely in the ath12k PCI/AHB probe path, entered locally via `finit_module()`, a sysfs `bind` write, or unattended boot-time device probe, and the UAF is consumed by local `panic_notifier_list` traversal or an in-kernel panic. No over-the-air WiFi frame or remote peer data reaches `ath12k_core_init()`, which runs entirely before the radio is registered.\nAC:L - Once `ath12k_core_hw_group_assign()` or `ath12k_core_hw_group_create()` fails — deterministic on any machine whose ath12k amss.bin/board-2.bin is missing or mismatched, since `ath12k_mhi_start()` then fails on every probe — the freed `&ab->panic_nb` is guaranteed to remain linked, with no race, timing window, or memory-layout condition to win, and repeated PCI bind/unbind plants additional dangling entries.\nPR:L - The vulnerable state is established by an unattended boot-time probe failure that requires no privileges at all; from there an ordinary unprivileged local user can reclaim the freed `struct ath12k_base` slab with sprayed data and have the stale entry walked or invoked, so no capability beyond a normal local account is needed to exploit it.\nUI:N - No action by any other user is required — the probe failure occurs automatically during boot or driver bind, and the subsequent notifier-chain traversal or panic dispatch happens without victim involvement.\nS:U - Both the freed object and the corrupted `panic_notifier_list` live in the kernel's own address space and security authority; no hypervisor, IOMMU, or sandbox boundary is crossed.\nC:H - `notifier_chain_register()` dereferences `(*nl)->priority` and `(*nl)->next` out of the freed `ath12k_base`, and `ath12k_core_panic_handler()` reads `ab->hif.ops` from it, so an attacker who reclaims the slab obtains a use-after-free read primitive over kernel memory and leaks kernel pointers.\nI:H - `rcu_assign_pointer(*nl, n)` in `notifier_chain_register()` writes a kernel pointer directly into the freed (and therefore attacker-reclaimable) allocation, and the panic path performs an indirect call through `nb->notifier_call` plus `ab->hif.ops->panic_handler` read from that same freed memory — a control-flow hijack primitive.\nA:H - The reported call trace is a kernel oops inside `notifier_chain_register()` on the stale entry, and any panic afterwards dereferences freed memory while dispatching the panic notifiers, crashing the machine and defeating kdump/crash reporting." } ] } ], "affected": [ { "product": "Linux", "vendor": "Linux", "defaultStatus": "unaffected", "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "programFiles": [ "drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/core.c" ], "versions": [ { "version": "6f245ea0ec6c29b90c8fa4fdf6e178c646125d7e", "lessThan": "65e1b3404c211dcfaea02698539cdcd26647130f", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "6f245ea0ec6c29b90c8fa4fdf6e178c646125d7e", "lessThan": "f3fe49dbddd73f0155a8935af47cb63693069dbe", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" } ] }, { "product": "Linux", "vendor": "Linux", "defaultStatus": "affected", "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "programFiles": [ "drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/core.c" ], "versions": [ { "version": "6.14", "status": "affected" }, { "version": "0", "lessThan": "6.14", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.15.3", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.15.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.16", "lessThanOrEqual": "*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix" } ] } ], "cpeApplicability": [ { "nodes": [ { "operator": "OR", "negate": false, "cpeMatch": [ { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.14", "versionEndExcluding": "6.15.3" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.14", "versionEndExcluding": "6.16" } ] } ] } ], "references": [ { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/65e1b3404c211dcfaea02698539cdcd26647130f" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f3fe49dbddd73f0155a8935af47cb63693069dbe" } ], "title": "wifi: ath12k: fix uaf in ath12k_core_init()", "x_generator": { "engine": "bippy-1.2.0" } } } }