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CVE-2025-68729
wifi: ath12k: Fix MSDU buffer types handling in RX error path
Published 2025-12-24 (10 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/net. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2025-68729 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | vulnerable | 6.12.113-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series trixie tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for trixie have historically landed a median of 11 days after publication. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 6.17.13-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.17.13-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 6.17.13-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.17.13-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
Currently, packets received on the REO exception ring from unassociated peers are of MSDU buffer type, while the driver expects link descriptor type packets. These packets are not parsed further due to a return check on packet type in ath12k_hal_desc_reo_parse_err(), but the associated skb is not freed. This may lead to kernel crashes and buffer leaks. Hence to fix, update the RX error handler to explicitly drop MSDU buffer type packets received on the REO exception ring. This prevents further processing of invalid packets and ensures stability in the RX error handling path. Tested-on: QCN9274 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.WBE.1.4.1-00199-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/dp_rx.c
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/hal_rx.c
- What this is
- QUALCOMM ATH12K WIRELESS DRIVERMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/ · linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org · Supported
- Kernel module
- ath12k
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_ATH12K|CONFIG_WLAN|CONFIG_WLAN_VENDOR_ATH' /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w ath12kPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed. The build rule could not be established for 1 release, so nothing is claimed about those.
- bookworm?
- trixieMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armel/rpi, s390x/s390x
- forky, sidMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, s390x/s390x
- ?
- not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
Where a release above reads "not established", no build rule for the affected file was found in that release's kernel tree. That is a gap in this lookup, not a finding that the code is absent.
- Build switches
- CONFIG_ATH12K, CONFIG_WLAN, CONFIG_WLAN_VENDOR_ATH
- Reads as
- all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2025-12-24 (10 months ago)source
- CVSS
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- 0.18%, higher than 7.5% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/net
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.3 | 6.17.13 | 5ff5a9d71cdc |
| 6.3 | 6.18.2 | ab0554f51e5f |
| 6.3 | 6.19 | 36f9edbb9d0f |
Why the CNA scored it this way
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2025-68729, which is why it is shown as unrated rather than given an invented score. 6,405 of the 20,413 CVEs here carry reasoning; this is not one of them.