CVE-2025-38509
Unknown Unknown - Not Provided
BaseFortify

Publication date: 2025-08-16

Last updated on: 2025-11-19

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: reject VHT opmode for unsupported channel widths VHT operating mode notifications are not defined for channel widths below 20 MHz. In particular, 5 MHz and 10 MHz are not valid under the VHT specification and must be rejected. Without this check, malformed notifications using these widths may reach ieee80211_chan_width_to_rx_bw(), leading to a WARN_ON due to invalid input. This issue was reported by syzbot. Reject these unsupported widths early in sta_link_apply_parameters() when opmode_notif is used. The accepted set includes 20, 40, 80, 160, and 80+80 MHz, which are valid for VHT. While 320 MHz is not defined for VHT, it is allowed to avoid rejecting HE or EHT clients that may still send a VHT opmode notification.
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
Probability:
Percentile:
Meta Information
Published
2025-08-16
Last Modified
2025-11-19
Generated
2026-05-07
AI Q&A
2025-08-16
EPSS Evaluated
2026-05-05
NVD
CVE-2025-38509
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 6 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel 6.16
linux linux_kernel 6.16
linux linux_kernel 6.16
linux linux_kernel 6.16
linux linux_kernel 6.16
linux linux_kernel From 5.15.160 (inc) to 5.16 (inc)
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
CWE Icon
KEV
KEV Icon
CWE ID Description
CWE-NVD-CWE-noinfo
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?

This vulnerability involves the Linux kernel's wifi mac80211 component improperly handling VHT (Very High Throughput) operating mode notifications for unsupported channel widths below 20 MHz, such as 5 MHz and 10 MHz. These widths are invalid under the VHT specification but were not being rejected early, allowing malformed notifications to reach a function that expects valid inputs, causing a warning or potential instability. The fix rejects these unsupported widths early to prevent invalid input processing.


How can this vulnerability impact me? :

If exploited, this vulnerability could cause the Linux kernel's wifi subsystem to encounter warnings or instability due to processing invalid VHT operating mode notifications with unsupported channel widths. This could potentially lead to degraded wifi performance or system instability when handling malformed wifi frames.


Ask Our AI Assistant
Need more information? Ask your question to get an AI reply (Powered by our expertise)
0/70
EPSS Chart