CVE-2025-38509
- Published: 2025-08-16T11:15:43.893
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.
Related CVE by CWE
No related CWE found.
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How to fix CVE-2025-38509
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 […]
Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public
How to Fix:
- Check if you're running the affected product
- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access
- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)
- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations
Exploit Difficulty Assessment
Vulnerability Timeline
CVE details first published to NVD database
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Detection Rules & IOCs
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No vendor/product data available.