Linux Kernel up to 6.6.75/6.12.12/6.13.1 mac80211 improper authorization

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as critical has been discovered in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.75/6.12.12/6.13.1. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component mac80211. Executing a manipulation can lead to improper authorization. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2025-21828. No exploit exists. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.75/6.12.12/6.13.1. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects an unknown functionality of the component mac80211. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a improper authorization vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-285. The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: don't flush non-uploaded STAs If STA state is pre-moved to AUTHORIZED (such as in IBSS scenarios) and insertion fails, the station is freed. In this case, the driver never knew about the station, so trying to flush it is unexpected and may crash. Check if the sta was uploaded to the driver before and fix this.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-21828 since 12/29/2024. The exploitation appears to be easy. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 02/16/2026). The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1548.002.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 232273 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-21828), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.76, 6.12.13, 6.13.2 or 6.14-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch cf21ef3d430847ba864bbc9b2774fffcc03ce321/cd10b7fcb95a6a86c67adc54304c59a578ab16af/9efb5531271fa7ebae993b2a33a705d9947c7ce6/aa3ce3f8fafa0b8fb062f28024855ea8cb3f3450 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (232273) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0499). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• RESF Rocky Linux
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.0
• 6.6.1
• 6.6.2
• 6.6.3
• 6.6.4
• 6.6.5
• 6.6.6
• 6.6.7
• 6.6.8
• 6.6.9
• 6.6.10
• 6.6.11
• 6.6.12
• 6.6.13
• 6.6.14
• 6.6.15
• 6.6.16
• 6.6.17
• 6.6.18
• 6.6.19
• 6.6.20
• 6.6.21
• 6.6.22
• 6.6.23
• 6.6.24
• 6.6.25
• 6.6.26
• 6.6.27
• 6.6.28
• 6.6.29
• 6.6.30
• 6.6.31
• 6.6.32
• 6.6.33
• 6.6.34
• 6.6.35
• 6.6.36
• 6.6.37
• 6.6.38
• 6.6.39
• 6.6.40
• 6.6.41
• 6.6.42
• 6.6.43
• 6.6.44
• 6.6.45
• 6.6.46
• 6.6.47
• 6.6.48
• 6.6.49
• 6.6.50
• 6.6.51
• 6.6.52
• 6.6.53
• 6.6.54
• 6.6.55
• 6.6.56
• 6.6.57
• 6.6.58
• 6.6.59
• 6.6.60
• 6.6.61
• 6.6.62
• 6.6.63
• 6.6.64
• 6.6.65
• 6.6.66
• 6.6.67
• 6.6.68
• 6.6.69
• 6.6.70
• 6.6.71
• 6.6.72
• 6.6.73
• 6.6.74
• 6.6.75
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.13.0
• 6.13.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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