Kernel panic via stale ath12k radio dereference
Published Aug 19, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel 6.4 through 6.15.9 and 6.16.0 allows local users to trigger a kernel panic in ath12k. During virtual-interface deletion, ath12k_dp_tx_get_encap_type() dereferences arvif->ar after the radio pointer becomes NULL instead of using the valid ab pointer held by ath12k_dp_tx(). Reachability requires low-privileged local access and an affected ath12k Wi-Fi configuration; exploitation interrupts service, with no reported data disclosure or modification.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel 6.4 through 6.15.9 and 6.16.0 allows local users to trigger a kernel panic in ath12k. During virtual-interface deletion, ath12k_dp_tx_get_encap_type() dereferences arvif->ar after the radio pointer becomes NULL instead of using the valid ab pointer held by ath12k_dp_tx(). Reachability requires low-privileged local access and an affected ath12k Wi-Fi configuration; exploitation interrupts service, with no reported data disclosure or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-38605
- Published
- Aug 19, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 19, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=6.4
- Affected versionversion=e93bbd65547ea8073b707c9034c3f051f8018614 <05062834350f0bf7ad1abcebc2807220e90220eb
- Affected versionversion=e93bbd65547ea8073b707c9034c3f051f8018614 <b508f370f88f277c95e2bd3bc47217a96d668cee
- Affected versionversion=e93bbd65547ea8073b707c9034c3f051f8018614 <ee4f8e7fa578f9f28cef5f409677db25f4f83d7e
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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