Linux Kernel up to 6.14.1 cfg80211 wiphy_work initialization

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.14.1. It has been declared as problematic. Affected by this issue is the function wiphy_work of the component cfg80211. Such manipulation leads to initialization. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2025-22119. There is no available exploit. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.14.1. It has been rated as problematic. Affected by this issue is the function wiphy_work of the component cfg80211. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a initialization vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-665. The product does not initialize or incorrectly initializes a resource, which might leave the resource in an unexpected state when it is accessed or used. The impact remains unknown. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cfg80211: init wiphy_work before allocating rfkill fails syzbort reported a uninitialize wiphy_work_lock in cfg80211_dev_free. [1] After rfkill allocation fails, the wiphy release process will be performed, which will cause cfg80211_dev_free to access the uninitialized wiphy_work related data. Move the initialization of wiphy_work to before rfkill initialization to avoid this issue. [1] INFO: trying to register non-static key. The code is fine but needs lockdep annotation, or maybe you didn't initialize this object before use? turning off the locking correctness validator. CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 5935 Comm: syz-executor550 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc6-syzkaller-00103-g4003c9e78778 #0 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2~bpo12+1 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x116/0x1f0 lib/dump_stack.c:120 assign_lock_key kernel/locking/lockdep.c:983 [inline] register_lock_class+0xc39/0x1240 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:1297 __lock_acquire+0x135/0x3c40 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5103 lock_acquire.part.0+0x11b/0x380 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5851 __raw_spin_lock_irqsave include/linux/spinlock_api_smp.h:110 [inline] _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x3a/0x60 kernel/locking/spinlock.c:162 cfg80211_dev_free+0x30/0x3d0 net/wireless/core.c:1196 device_release+0xa1/0x240 drivers/base/core.c:2568 kobject_cleanup lib/kobject.c:689 [inline] kobject_release lib/kobject.c:720 [inline] kref_put include/linux/kref.h:65 [inline] kobject_put+0x1e4/0x5a0 lib/kobject.c:737 put_device+0x1f/0x30 drivers/base/core.c:3774 wiphy_free net/wireless/core.c:1224 [inline] wiphy_new_nm+0x1c1f/0x2160 net/wireless/core.c:562 ieee80211_alloc_hw_nm+0x1b7a/0x2260 net/mac80211/main.c:835 mac80211_hwsim_new_radio+0x1d6/0x54e0 drivers/net/wireless/virtual/mac80211_hwsim.c:5185 hwsim_new_radio_nl+0xb42/0x12b0 drivers/net/wireless/virtual/mac80211_hwsim.c:6242 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0x202/0x2f0 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1115 genl_family_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:1195 [inline] genl_rcv_msg+0x565/0x800 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1210 netlink_rcv_skb+0x16b/0x440 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2533 genl_rcv+0x28/0x40 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1219 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1312 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x53c/0x7f0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1338 netlink_sendmsg+0x8b8/0xd70 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1882 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:718 [inline] __sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:733 [inline] ____sys_sendmsg+0xaaf/0xc90 net/socket.c:2573 ___sys_sendmsg+0x135/0x1e0 net/socket.c:2627 __sys_sendmsg+0x16e/0x220 net/socket.c:2659 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcd/0x250 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 Close: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=aaf0488c83d1d5f4f029

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-22119 since 12/29/2024. The exploitation is known to be difficult. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 240657 (Ubuntu 25.04 : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-7594-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.14.2 or 6.15-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 2617f60c3613ef105b8db2d514d2cac2a1836f7d/fc88dee89d7b63eeb17699393eb659aadf9d9b7c 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 (240657) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0844). 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
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell Avamar
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway
• IBM QRadar SIEM

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.14.0
• 6.14.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Discussion