Linux Kernel up to 6.12.74/6.18.15/6.19.5 wifi devm_kmemdup memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.74/6.18.15/6.19.5. The affected element is the function devm_kmemdup of the component wifi. The manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-71273. No exploit exists. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.74/6.18.15/6.19.5. It has been rated as critical. This issue affects the function devm_kmemdup of the component wifi. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: rtw88: Use devm_kmemdup() in rtw_set_supported_band() Simplify the code by using device managed memory allocations. This also fixes a memory leak in rtw_register_hw(). The supported bands were not freed in the error path. Copied from commit 145df52a8671 ("wifi: rtw89: Convert rtw89_core_set_supported_band to use devm_*").

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-71273 since 03/17/2026. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 6.12.75, 6.18.16 or 6.19.6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 9b5418070ee8468fac9e8bf641c83d46b85bff30/ad9b80ee310ed734482a2e5da874b67f88ac0ef8/1bd90e0a99fdc8dc5deb3c92bf865e4496b4b311/2ba12401cc1f2d970fa2e7d5b15abde3f5abd40d 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 vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-1405). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Microsoft Azure Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Proxmox Virtual Environment

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.12.60
• 6.12.61
• 6.12.62
• 6.12.63
• 6.12.64
• 6.12.65
• 6.12.66
• 6.12.67
• 6.12.68
• 6.12.69
• 6.12.70
• 6.12.71
• 6.12.72
• 6.12.73
• 6.12.74
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.19.0
• 6.19.1
• 6.19.2
• 6.19.3
• 6.19.4
• 6.19.5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

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