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CVE-2025-38121

Status: AnalyzedMedium (5.5)—

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: iwlwifi: mld: avoid panic on init failure

In case of an error during init, in_hw_restart will be set, but it will never get cleared. Instead, we will retry to init again, and then we will act like we are in a restart when we are actually not.

This causes (among others) to a NULL pointer dereference when canceling rx_omi::finished_work, that was not even initialized, because we thought that we are in hw_restart.

Set in_hw_restart to true only if the fw is running, then we know that FW was loaded successfully and we are not going to the retry loop.

CVSS

Exploitation probability (EPSS)

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).

Affected technologies (1)

Linux — Linux Kernel

CWEs

References

Raw JSON (NVD)

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{
  "id": "CVE-2025-38121",
  "cveTags": [],
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "type": "Primary",
        "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
        "cvssData": {
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "version": "3.1",
          "baseScore": 5.5,
          "attackVector": "LOCAL",
          "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
          "integrityImpact": "NONE",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
          "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
          "confidentialityImpact": "NONE"
        },
        "impactScore": 3.6,
        "exploitabilityScore": 1.8
      }
    ]
  },
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "versions": [
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              "status": "affected",
              "version": "7391b2a4f7dbb7be7dd763bc87506c10f570a8d3",
              "lessThan": "a26ec8e16958b6dd37dac9daf5fb6978fe0cb0b8",
              "versionType": "git"
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            {
              "status": "affected",
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              "lessThan": "960c7e6d388034d219dafffa6da0a5c2ccd5ff30",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ],
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mld/mld.c"
          ],
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected"
        },
        {
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.14"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "lessThan": "6.14",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.15.3",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.15.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.16",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*"
            }
          ],
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/mld/mld.c"
          ],
          "defaultStatus": "affected"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "published": "2025-07-03T09:15:26.170",
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/960c7e6d388034d219dafffa6da0a5c2ccd5ff30",
      "tags": [
        "Patch"
      ],
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a26ec8e16958b6dd37dac9daf5fb6978fe0cb0b8",
      "tags": [
        "Patch"
      ],
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    }
  ],
  "vulnStatus": "Analyzed",
  "weaknesses": [
    {
      "type": "Primary",
      "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
      "description": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-476"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: iwlwifi: mld: avoid panic on init failure\n\nIn case of an error during init, in_hw_restart will be set, but it will\nnever get cleared.\nInstead, we will retry to init again, and then we will act like we are in a\nrestart when we are actually not.\n\nThis causes (among others) to a NULL pointer dereference when canceling\nrx_omi::finished_work, that was not even initialized, because we thought\nthat we are in hw_restart.\n\nSet in_hw_restart to true only if the fw is running, then we know that\nFW was loaded successfully and we are not going to the retry loop."
    },
    {
      "lang": "es",
      "value": "En el kernel de Linux, se ha resuelto la siguiente vulnerabilidad: wifi: iwlwifi: mld: evitar pánico en caso de fallo de inicialización. En caso de un error durante la inicialización, se establecerá in_hw_restart, pero nunca se borrará. En su lugar, volveremos a intentar la inicialización y luego actuaremos como si estuviéramos en un reinicio cuando en realidad no lo estamos. Esto provoca (entre otras cosas) una desreferencia de puntero NULL al cancelar rx_omi::finished_work, que ni siquiera se inicializó, porque creíamos que estábamos en hw_restart. Establezca in_hw_restart en verdadero solo si el firmware se está ejecutando; entonces, sabremos que el firmware se cargó correctamente y no entraremos en el bucle de reintentos."
    }
  ],
  "lastModified": "2026-06-17T09:16:05.870",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "nodes": [
        {
          "negate": false,
          "cpeMatch": [
            {
              "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
              "vulnerable": true,
              "matchCriteriaId": "59623E70-FBCF-4F5B-A3CE-07A4482CED29",
              "versionEndExcluding": "6.15.3",
              "versionStartIncluding": "6.14"
            }
          ],
          "operator": "OR"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}