CVE-2025-38606: wifi: ath12k: Avoid accessing uninitialized arvif->ar during beacon miss
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
wifi: ath12k: Avoid accessing uninitialized arvif->ar during beacon miss
During beacon miss handling, ath12k driver iterates over active virtual interfaces (vifs) and attempts to access the radio object (ar) via arvif->deflink->ar.
However, after commit aa80f12f3bed ("wifi: ath12k: defer vdev creation for MLO"), arvif is linked to a radio only after vdev creation, typically when a channel is assigned or a scan is requested. For P2P capable devices, a default P2P interface is created by wpasupplicant along with regular station interfaces, these serve as dummy interfaces for P2P-capable stations, lack an associated netdev and initiate frequent scans to discover neighbor p2p devices. When a scan is initiated on such P2P vifs, driver selects destination radio (ar) based on scan frequency, creates a scan vdev, and attaches arvif to the radio. Once the scan completes or is aborted, the scan vdev is deleted, detaching arvif from the radio and leaving arvif->ar uninitialized.
While handling beacon miss for station interfaces, P2P interface is also encountered in the vif iteration and ath12kmachandlebeaconmissiter() tries to dereference the uninitialized arvif->deflink->ar.
Fix this by verifying that vdev is created for the arvif before accessing its ar during beacon miss handling and similar vif iterator callbacks.
========================================================================== wlp6s0: detected beacon loss from AP (missed 7 beacons) - probing KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000010-0x0000000000000017]
CPU: 5 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/5 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc1-wt-ath+ #2 PREEMPT(full) RIP: 0010:ath12kmachandlebeaconmissiter+0xb5/0x1a0 [ath12k] Call Trace: iterateinterfaces+0x11a/0x410 [mac80211] ieee80211iterateactiveinterfacesatomic+0x61/0x140 [mac80211] ath12kmachandlebeaconmiss+0xa1/0xf0 [ath12k] ath12kroamevent+0x393/0x560 [ath12k] ath12kwmioprx+0x1486/0x28c0 [ath12k] ath12khtcprocesstrailer.isra.0+0x2fb/0x620 [ath12k] ath12khtcrxcompletionhandler+0x448/0x830 [ath12k] ath12kcerecvprocesscb+0x549/0x9e0 [ath12k] ath12kceperengineservice+0xbe/0xf0 [ath12k] ath12kpciceworkqueue+0x69/0x120 [ath12k] processonework+0xe3a/0x1430
Tested-on: QCN9274 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.WBE.1.4.1-00199-QCAHKSWPLSILICONZ-1 Tested-on: WCN7850 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.HMT.1.1.c5-00284.1-QCAHMTSWPLV1.0V2.0SILICONZ-3
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
linux/Kernelto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.15.10 - Upgrade
Upgrade
linux/Kernelto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.16.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.14.0-1017.17~24.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.14to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.14.0-1017.17~24.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.14to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.14.0-1020.21~24.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.14to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.14.0-1016.16 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.14to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.14.0-1017.17~24.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.14to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.14.0-36.36.1~24.04.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.14to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.14.0-1016.16~24.04.1 - Compensating control
Modify ath12k beacon miss handling and similar virtual-interface iterator callbacks to verify that a vdev has been created for the arvif before accessing arvif->deflink->ar.
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of CVE-2025-38606?
CVE-2025-38606 has been rated as a medium severity vulnerability due to potential exposure of uninitialized data.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38606?
To fix CVE-2025-38606, users should update to the latest stable version of the Linux kernel that addresses this vulnerability.
What component is affected by CVE-2025-38606?
CVE-2025-38606 affects the ath12k driver in the Linux kernel.
What are the potential consequences of CVE-2025-38606?
Exploitation of CVE-2025-38606 may lead to unintended behavior in the wireless network functionality of affected systems.
Is CVE-2025-38606 present in all versions of the Linux kernel?
No, CVE-2025-38606 is not present in all kernel versions; it affects specific releases where the ath12k driver is included.