---
id: CVE-2025-38157
title: 'wifi: ath9k_htc: Abort software beacon handling if disabled'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  wifi: ath9k_htc: Abort software beacon handling if disabled

  A malicious USB device can send a WMI_SWBA_EVENTID event from an
  ath9k_htc-managed device before beaconing …
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 <
    e5ce9df1d68094d37360dbd9b09289d42fa21e54
  - >-
    Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 <
    0281c19074976ec48f0078d50530b406ddae75bc
  - >-
    Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 <
    7ee3fb6258da8c890a51b514f60d7570dc703605
  - >-
    Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 <
    40471b23147c86ea3ed97faee79937c618250bd0
  - >-
    Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 <
    5482ef9875eaa43f0435e14570e1193823de857e
  - >-
    Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 <
    ee5ee646385f5846dcbc881389f3c44a197c402a
  - >-
    Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 <
    5a85c21f812e02cb00ca07007d88acdd42d08c46
  - >-
    Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 <
    ac4e317a95a1092b5da5b9918b7118759342641c
  - Linux 3.0
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-11-05T20:50:39.376800Z'
published: '2025-07-03'
updated: '2026-11-05'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-05T20:52:18.094Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38157'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e5ce9df1d68094d37360dbd9b09289d42fa21e54'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0281c19074976ec48f0078d50530b406ddae75bc'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ee3fb6258da8c890a51b514f60d7570dc703605'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/40471b23147c86ea3ed97faee79937c618250bd0'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5482ef9875eaa43f0435e14570e1193823de857e'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee5ee646385f5846dcbc881389f3c44a197c402a'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5a85c21f812e02cb00ca07007d88acdd42d08c46'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac4e317a95a1092b5da5b9918b7118759342641c'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00194
epssPercentile: 0.09143
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T22:38:31.926Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

wifi: ath9k_htc: Abort software beacon handling if disabled

A malicious USB device can send a WMI_SWBA_EVENTID event from an
ath9k_htc-managed device before beaconing has been enabled. This causes
a device-by-zero error in the driver, leading to either a crash or an
out of bounds read.

Prevent this by aborting the handling in ath9k_htc_swba() if beacons are
not enabled.

## Affected

- `Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 < e5ce9df1d68094d37360dbd9b09289d42fa21e54`
- `Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 < 0281c19074976ec48f0078d50530b406ddae75bc`
- `Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 < 7ee3fb6258da8c890a51b514f60d7570dc703605`
- `Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 < 40471b23147c86ea3ed97faee79937c618250bd0`
- `Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 < 5482ef9875eaa43f0435e14570e1193823de857e`
- `Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 < ee5ee646385f5846dcbc881389f3c44a197c402a`
- `Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 < 5a85c21f812e02cb00ca07007d88acdd42d08c46`
- `Linux >= 832f6a18fc2aead14954c081ece03b7a5b425f81 < ac4e317a95a1092b5da5b9918b7118759342641c`
- `Linux 3.0`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.