CVE-2025-38420
wifi: carl9170: do not ping device which has failed to load firmware
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: carl9170: do not ping device which has failed to load firmware Syzkaller reports [1, 2] crashes caused by an attempts to ping the device which has failed to load firmware. Since such a device doesn't pass 'ieee80211_register_hw()', an internal workqueue managed by 'ieee80211_queue_work()' is not yet created and an attempt to queue work on it causes null-ptr-deref. [1] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=9a4aec827829942045ff [2] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=0d8afba53e8fb2633217
INFO
Published Date :
July 25, 2025, 3:15 p.m.
Last Modified :
Dec. 23, 2025, 6:42 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM | [email protected] |
Solution
- Update the Linux kernel to a patched version.
- Apply the specific fix for the carl9170 driver.
- Ensure firmware loading is handled correctly.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2025-38420.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2025-38420 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2025-38420
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2025-38420 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2025-38420 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
Initial Analysis by [email protected]
Dec. 23, 2025
Action Type Old Value New Value Added CVSS V3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Added CWE CWE-476 Added CPE Configuration OR *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 5.11 up to (excluding) 5.15.186 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 5.16 up to (excluding) 6.1.142 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 5.5 up to (excluding) 5.10.239 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 6.2 up to (excluding) 6.6.95 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 6.13 up to (excluding) 6.15.4 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 6.7 up to (excluding) 6.12.35 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 2.6.38 up to (excluding) 5.4.295 Added CPE Configuration OR *cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0140d3d37f0f1759d1fdedd854c7875a86e15f8d Types: Patch Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/11ef72b3312752c2ff92f3c1e64912be3228ed36 Types: Patch Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/15d25307692312cec4b57052da73387f91a2e870 Types: Patch Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/301268dbaac8e9013719e162a000202eac8054be Types: Patch Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4e9ab5c48ad5153cc908dd29abad0cd2a92951e4 Types: Patch Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/527fad1ae32ffa2d4853a1425fe1c8dbb8c9744c Types: Patch Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8a3734a6f4c05fd24605148f21fb2066690d61b3 Types: Patch Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bfeede26e97ce4a15a0b961118de4a0e28c9907a Types: Patch Added Reference Type CVE: https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html Types: Mailing List, Third Party Advisory Added Reference Type CVE: https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html Types: Mailing List, Third Party Advisory -
CVE Modified by af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
Nov. 03, 2025
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Reference https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html Added Reference https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html -
New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Jul. 25, 2025
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: carl9170: do not ping device which has failed to load firmware Syzkaller reports [1, 2] crashes caused by an attempts to ping the device which has failed to load firmware. Since such a device doesn't pass 'ieee80211_register_hw()', an internal workqueue managed by 'ieee80211_queue_work()' is not yet created and an attempt to queue work on it causes null-ptr-deref. [1] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=9a4aec827829942045ff [2] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=0d8afba53e8fb2633217 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0140d3d37f0f1759d1fdedd854c7875a86e15f8d Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/11ef72b3312752c2ff92f3c1e64912be3228ed36 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/15d25307692312cec4b57052da73387f91a2e870 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/301268dbaac8e9013719e162a000202eac8054be Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4e9ab5c48ad5153cc908dd29abad0cd2a92951e4 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/527fad1ae32ffa2d4853a1425fe1c8dbb8c9744c Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8a3734a6f4c05fd24605148f21fb2066690d61b3 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bfeede26e97ce4a15a0b961118de4a0e28c9907a