Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-38290

Race Condition in Linux Kernel 6.3 – 6.6.94

Race Condition
Published
10 July 2025
Modified
30 July 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0019 9th percentile
Risk Priority 63 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-38290 is a high-severity Race Condition (CWE-362) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and IA-5 (Authenticator Management) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A06:2025 Insecure Design

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath12k: fix node corruption in ar->arvifs list In current WLAN recovery code flow, ath12k_core_halt() only reinitializes the "arvifs" list head. This will cause the list node immediately following the…

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list head to become an invalid list node. Because the prev of that node still points to the list head "arvifs", but the next of the list head "arvifs" no longer points to that list node. When a WLAN recovery occurs during the execution of a vif removal, and it happens before the spin_lock_bh(&ar->data_lock) in ath12k_mac_vdev_delete(), list_del() will detect the previously mentioned situation, thereby triggering a kernel panic. The fix is to remove and reinitialize all vif list nodes from the list head "arvifs" during WLAN halt. The reinitialization is to make the list nodes valid, ensuring that the list_del() in ath12k_mac_vdev_delete() can execute normally. Call trace: __list_del_entry_valid_or_report+0xd4/0x100 (P) ath12k_mac_remove_link_interface.isra.0+0xf8/0x2e4 [ath12k] ath12k_scan_vdev_clean_work+0x40/0x164 [ath12k] cfg80211_wiphy_work+0xfc/0x100 process_one_work+0x164/0x2d0 worker_thread+0x254/0x380 kthread+0xfc/0x100 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 The change is mostly copied from the ath11k patch: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250320053145.3445187-1-quic_stonez@quicinc.com/ Tested-on: QCN9274 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.WBE.1.4.1-00199-QCAHKSWPL_SILICONZ-1

CWE(s)
CWE-362CWE-672

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

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CVE-2024-56556Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-22036Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-3397Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-23111Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-52502Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-56664Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
6.3 — 6.6.94 · 6.7 — 6.12.34 · 6.13 — 6.15.3

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V10.4.2
  • V10.4.5
  • V15.1.3
  • V15.4.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

Access enforcement applies current authorizations to every request, directly blocking operations once a resource has been revoked or released.

IA-5 Authenticator Management good match

Authenticator management mandates revocation and replacement procedures that render expired credentials unusable.

AC-2 Account Management partial match

Account lifecycle management includes explicit revocation and disabling steps that stop subsequent operations on released accounts or identifiers.

IA-4 Identifier Management partial match

Identifier management requires deallocation and reuse controls that prevent continued use of released identifiers.

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

Maintaining separate execution domains for each process structurally eliminates unintended concurrent access to the same shared resources.

SC-4 Information in Shared System Resources partial match

Preventing unintended information transfer through shared system resources directly addresses the improper concurrent modification that defines a race condition.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Enforcing managed authorizations and revocations directly prevents post-release operations on credentials or entitlements.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require proper synchronization primitives and concurrency testing that prevent race conditions.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect race conditions, but does not prevent them at design or coding time.

A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
degrades

Enforces timely deletion of resources so they cannot be used after release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates concurrency controls and synchronization primitives that directly prevent race conditions.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify thread-safety and locking rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles require proper synchronization and resource isolation, addressing the root cause of CWE-362.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe concurrent access patterns and mandate atomic operations or locks.

References