What is CVE-2025-38642?

CVE-2025-38642 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.13 onward and patched in 6.15.10, 6.16.1 and 6.17. CVE-2025-38642 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38642?

CVE-2025-38642 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-38642?

Yes, CVE-2025-38642 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.15.10, 6.16.1 and 6.17. If you are running Linux kernel 6.13 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2025-38642 actively exploited?

CVE-2025-38642 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2025-38642

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mac80211: fix WARN_ON for monitor mode on some devices On devices without WANT_MONITOR_VIF (and probably without channel context support) we get a WARN_ON for changing the per-link setting of a monitor interface. Since we already skip AP_VLAN interfaces and MONITOR with WANT_MONITOR_VIF and/or NO_VIRTUAL_MONITOR should update the settings, catch this in the link change code instead of the warning.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-08-22

Last modified 2025-11-26

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-617

CVE-2025-38642 is classified as CWE-617

See CWE-617 on MITRE CWE for full details on this weakness type.

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.13 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.15.10, 6.16.1, 6.17 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.13

Fixed in

✓ 6.15.10 6.15.x ✓ 6.16.1 6.16.x ✓ 6.17

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-38642 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e10ded6b0f9b0eeefaacbb6c6c6afff3f702812
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c57e5b9819dfd16d709bcd6cb633301ed0829a66
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ff15498ebaa49c5429a74e70a1951dede60cd14c
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2025-38642

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-08-22

Modified 2025-11-26

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38642?

CVE-2025-38642 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.13 onward and has been patched in 6.15.10, 6.16.1 and 6.17. CVE-2025-38642 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38642?

CVE-2025-38642 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-38642?

Yes — CVE-2025-38642 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.15.10, 6.16.1 and 6.17. If you are running Linux kernel 6.13 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2025-38642 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2025-38642 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.