CVE-2025-40000

wifi: rtw89: fix use-after-free in rtw89_core_tx_kick_off_and_wait()

HIGH
8.8
CVSS Score
Published: October 15, 2025 at 07:59 AM UTC
Updated: October 19, 2026 at 09:10 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
HIGH8.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.3%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: rtw89: fix use-after-free in rtw89_core_tx_kick_off_and_wait() There is a bug observed when rtw89_core_tx_kick_off_and_wait() tries to access already freed skb_data: BUG: KFENCE: use-after-free write in rtw89_core_tx_kick_off_and_wait drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/core.c:1110 CPU: 6 UID: 0 PID: 41377 Comm: kworker/u64:24 Not tainted 6.17.0-rc1+ #1 PREEMPT(lazy) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS edk2-20250523-14.fc42 05/23/2025 Workqueue: events_unbound cfg80211_wiphy_work [cfg80211] Use-after-free write at 0x0000000020309d9d (in kfence-#251): rtw89_core_tx_kick_off_and_wait drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/core.c:1110 rtw89_core_scan_complete drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/core.c:5338 rtw89_hw_scan_complete_cb drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/fw.c:7979 rtw89_chanctx_proceed_cb drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/chan.c:3165 rtw89_chanctx_proceed drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/chan.h:141 rtw89_hw_scan_complete drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/fw.c:8012 rtw89_mac_c2h_scanofld_rsp drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/mac.c:5059 rtw89_fw_c2h_work drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/fw.c:6758 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3241 worker_thread kernel/workqueue.c:3400 kthread kernel/kthread.c:463 ret_from_fork arch/x86/kernel/process.c:154 ret_from_fork_asm arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:258 kfence-#251: 0x0000000056e2393d-0x000000009943cb62, size=232, cache=skbuff_head_cache allocated by task 41377 on cpu 6 at 77869.159548s (0.009551s ago): __alloc_skb net/core/skbuff.c:659 __netdev_alloc_skb net/core/skbuff.c:734 ieee80211_nullfunc_get net/mac80211/tx.c:5844 rtw89_core_send_nullfunc drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/core.c:3431 rtw89_core_scan_complete drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/core.c:5338 rtw89_hw_scan_complete_cb drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/fw.c:7979 rtw89_chanctx_proceed_cb drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/chan.c:3165 rtw89_chanctx_proceed drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/chan.c:3194 rtw89_hw_scan_complete drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/fw.c:8012 rtw89_mac_c2h_scanofld_rsp drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/mac.c:5059 rtw89_fw_c2h_work drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/fw.c:6758 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3241 worker_thread kernel/workqueue.c:3400 kthread kernel/kthread.c:463 ret_from_fork arch/x86/kernel/process.c:154 ret_from_fork_asm arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:258 freed by task 1045 on cpu 9 at 77869.168393s (0.001557s ago): ieee80211_tx_status_skb net/mac80211/status.c:1117 rtw89_pci_release_txwd_skb drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/pci.c:564 rtw89_pci_release_tx_skbs.isra.0 drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/pci.c:651 rtw89_pci_release_tx drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/pci.c:676 rtw89_pci_napi_poll drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/pci.c:4238 __napi_poll net/core/dev.c:7495 net_rx_action net/core/dev.c:7557 net/core/dev.c:7684 handle_softirqs kernel/softirq.c:580 do_softirq.part.0 kernel/softirq.c:480 __local_bh_enable_ip kernel/softirq.c:407 rtw89_pci_interrupt_threadfn drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw89/pci.c:927 irq_thread_fn kernel/irq/manage.c:1133 irq_thread kernel/irq/manage.c:1257 kthread kernel/kthread.c:463 ret_from_fork arch/x86/kernel/process.c:154 ret_from_fork_asm arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:258 It is a consequence of a race between the waiting and the signaling side of the completion: Waiting thread Completing thread rtw89_core_tx_kick_off_and_wait() rcu_assign_pointer(skb_data->wait, wait) /* start waiting */ wait_for_completion_timeout() rtw89_pci_tx_status() rtw89_core_tx_wait_complete() rcu_read_lock() /* signals completion and ---truncated---

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

1ae5ca615285d5d4f72d1de464716d85dffef19f6.4
Vendor states this is fixed in 3e31a6bc07312b448fad3b45de578471f86f0e77 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 895cccf639ac015f3d5f993218cf098db82ac145 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in bdb3c41b358cf87d99e39d393e164f9e4a6088e6 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in f21f530b03b4b23448edb531a0cfea434cb76bb4 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.52 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.16.12 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.17.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.4 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

8.8HIGHLinux
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED

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