CVE-2025-39957 (GCVE-0-2025-39957)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2025-10-09 09:47
Modified
2026-08-05 12:06
Severity ?
7.1 (High) - CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: increase scan_ies_len for S1G Currently the S1G capability element is not taken into account for the scan_ies_len, which leads to a buffer length validation failure in ieee80211_prep_hw_scan() and subsequent WARN in __ieee80211_start_scan(). This prevents hw scanning from functioning. To fix ensure we accommodate for the S1G capability length.
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Version: 0333a81bc83431d7f90391d38aa09e856c5e5b25
Version: 0333a81bc83431d7f90391d38aa09e856c5e5b25
Version: 0333a81bc83431d7f90391d38aa09e856c5e5b25
Version: 0333a81bc83431d7f90391d38aa09e856c5e5b25
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "net/mac80211/main.c"
          ],
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          "programFiles": [
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          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
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              "version": "6.4"
            },
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.6.108",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.12.49",
              "versionType": "semver"
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            {
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.16.9",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.17",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
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        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
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          "nodes": [
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              "cpeMatch": [
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                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.6.108",
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                  "vulnerable": true
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                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nwifi: mac80211: increase scan_ies_len for S1G\n\nCurrently the S1G capability element is not taken into account\nfor the scan_ies_len, which leads to a buffer length validation\nfailure in ieee80211_prep_hw_scan() and subsequent WARN in\n__ieee80211_start_scan(). This prevents hw scanning from functioning.\nTo fix ensure we accommodate for the S1G capability length."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "baseScore": 7.1,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "AV:L - The failure is reached by initiating a scan on the local host \u2014 `nl80211_trigger_scan` over netlink (or an internal mac80211/mlme scan) \u2014 not by processing any received frame. No remote or adjacent peer input is involved in triggering the undersized-buffer condition.\nAC:L - The miscalculation is deterministic: on any S1G-capable hardware doing a hardware scan, `ieee80211_build_preq_ies()` always overruns the `scan_ies_len` budget and fails, firing the WARN and passing an uninitialized request to the driver every single time. No race, timing, or memory-layout condition is required.\nPR:L - `NL80211_CMD_TRIGGER_SCAN` is gated by `GENL_UNS_ADMIN_PERM`, i.e. `ns_capable(net-\u003euser_ns, CAP_NET_ADMIN)`, which is the user-namespace-aware check and therefore reachable by a low-privileged local user rather than requiring real root; in practice scans are also driven continuously by wpa_supplicant/NetworkManager on behalf of ordinary desktop users.\nUI:N - No victim action is needed \u2014 a scan request alone triggers the path, and on affected hardware normal automatic scanning at boot or after connection loss hits it with no user involvement at all.\nS:U - The uninitialized-value use and the WARN both occur within the kernel\u0027s own security authority in net/mac80211 and the wireless driver; no VM, IOMMU, or sandbox boundary is crossed.\nC:H - Because `ieee80211_prep_hw_scan()` returns before assigning `req.ie_len`/`req.mac_addr`/`req.mac_addr_mask` yet `__ieee80211_start_scan()` still calls `drv_hw_scan()`, drivers copy `req-\u003eie_len` bytes (uninitialized kmalloc heap value, effectively unbounded) out of the IE buffer into a probe request that is transmitted over the air, disclosing arbitrary adjacent kernel heap memory.\nI:N - All IE emission is bounds-checked via `skb_tailroom()`/`end - pos` guards, so no out-of-bounds write or kernel data modification occurs; the uninitialized length yields only reads.\nA:H - `WARN_ON(!ieee80211_prep_hw_scan())` fires on every scan attempt, which is a kernel panic on the many hardened/embedded builds running `panic_on_warn`, and the subsequent unbounded read driven by the uninitialized `ie_len` can fault or trigger an enormous allocation; hardware scanning is rendered permanently non-functional."
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T12:06:27.822Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93e063f15e17acb8cd6ac90c8f0802c2624e1a74"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/32adb020b0c32939da1322dcc87fc0ae2bc935d1"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0dbad5f5549e54ac269cc04ce89f212892a98cab"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7e2f3213e85eba00acb4cfe6d71647892d63c3a1"
        }
      ],
      "title": "wifi: mac80211: increase scan_ies_len for S1G",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2025-39957",
    "datePublished": "2025-10-09T09:47:34.933Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-04-16T07:20:57.149Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T12:06:27.822Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}


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