CVE-2025-38013: wifi: mac80211: Set n_channels after allocating struct cfg80211_scan_request

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-06-18 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-129

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: Set n_channels after allocating struct cfg80211_scan_request Make sure that n_channels is set after allocating the struct cfg80211_registered_device::int_scan_req member. Seen with syzkaller: UBSAN: array-index-out-of-bounds in net/mac80211/scan.c:1208:5 index 0 is out of range for type 'struct ieee80211_channel *[] __counted_by(n_channels)' (aka 'struct ieee80211_channel *[]') This was missed in the initial conversions because I failed to locate the allocation likely due to the "sizeof(void *)" not matching the "channels" array type.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 6.6 before 6.6.92; from 6.7 before 6.12.30; from 6.13 before 6.14.8; 6.15-rc1, 6.15-rc2, 6.15-rc3, 6.15-rc4, 6.15-rc5, 6.15-rc6 — fixed in 6.12.30, 6.14.8, 6.6.92

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.12.30, 6.14.8, 6.6.92. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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