CVE-2025-39890
Unknown Unknown - Not Provided
BaseFortify

Publication date: 2025-09-24

Last updated on: 2025-12-12

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath12k: fix memory leak in ath12k_service_ready_ext_event Currently, in ath12k_service_ready_ext_event(), svc_rdy_ext.mac_phy_caps is not freed in the failure case, causing a memory leak. The following trace is observed in kmemleak: unreferenced object 0xffff8b3eb5789c00 (size 1024): comm "softirq", pid 0, jiffies 4294942577 hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 7b 00 00 10 ............{... 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 1f 38 00 00 .............8.. backtrace (crc 44e1c357): __kmalloc_noprof+0x30b/0x410 ath12k_wmi_mac_phy_caps_parse+0x84/0x100 [ath12k] ath12k_wmi_tlv_iter+0x5e/0x140 [ath12k] ath12k_wmi_svc_rdy_ext_parse+0x308/0x4c0 [ath12k] ath12k_wmi_tlv_iter+0x5e/0x140 [ath12k] ath12k_service_ready_ext_event.isra.0+0x44/0xd0 [ath12k] ath12k_wmi_op_rx+0x2eb/0xd70 [ath12k] ath12k_htc_rx_completion_handler+0x1f4/0x330 [ath12k] ath12k_ce_recv_process_cb+0x218/0x300 [ath12k] ath12k_pci_ce_workqueue+0x1b/0x30 [ath12k] process_one_work+0x219/0x680 bh_worker+0x198/0x1f0 tasklet_action+0x13/0x30 handle_softirqs+0xca/0x460 __irq_exit_rcu+0xbe/0x110 irq_exit_rcu+0x9/0x30 Free svc_rdy_ext.mac_phy_caps in the error case to fix this memory leak. Tested-on: QCN9274 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.WBE.1.4.1-00199-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1
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Meta Information
Published
2025-09-24
Last Modified
2025-12-12
Generated
2026-06-16
AI Q&A
2025-09-24
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-15
NVD
CVE-2025-39890
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 3 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel From 6.3 (inc) to 6.6.94 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 6.7 (inc) to 6.12.34 (exc)
linux linux_kernel From 6.13 (inc) to 6.15.3 (exc)
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-401 The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.
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Executive Summary

This vulnerability is a memory leak in the Linux kernel's ath12k wireless driver. Specifically, in the function ath12k_service_ready_ext_event(), a memory allocation (svc_rdy_ext.mac_phy_caps) is not freed when an error occurs, causing the allocated memory to remain unreferenced and leaked. This issue was identified through kmemleak tracing and has been fixed by ensuring the memory is freed in the failure case.

Impact Analysis

The memory leak can cause the system to consume increasing amounts of memory over time, potentially leading to degraded performance or system instability, especially on devices using the affected ath12k wireless driver. This could result in crashes or reduced availability of wireless functionality.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by monitoring for memory leaks related to the ath12k driver in the Linux kernel. Specifically, using kmemleak to identify unreferenced objects associated with ath12k_service_ready_ext_event. Commands such as `echo scan > /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak` followed by `cat /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak` can help detect memory leaks.

Mitigation Strategies

The immediate step to mitigate this vulnerability is to update the Linux kernel to a version where the ath12k_service_ready_ext_event memory leak has been fixed, as described in the patch that frees svc_rdy_ext.mac_phy_caps in the error case.

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