SOC status:Duty analyst on shift

UK Cyber Defence
VulnerabilityAnalyzed

CVE-2025-38086

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ch9200: fix uninitialised access during mii_nway_restart In mii_nway_restart() the code attempts to call mii->mdio_read which is ch9200_mdio_read(). ch9200_mdio_read() utilises a…

MEDIUM 5.5EPSS 0.17%

Does this matter?

Lower severity and a low EPSS score (0.17%). Track it; it rarely justifies an emergency change on its own.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ch9200: fix uninitialised access during mii_nway_restart In mii_nway_restart() the code attempts to call mii->mdio_read which is ch9200_mdio_read(). ch9200_mdio_read() utilises a local buffer called "buff", which is initialised with control_read(). However "buff" is conditionally initialised inside control_read(): if (err == size) { memcpy(data, buf, size); } If the condition of "err == size" is not met, then "buff" remains uninitialised. Once this happens the uninitialised "buff" is accessed and returned during ch9200_mdio_read(): return (buff[0] | buff[1] << 8); The problem stems from the fact that ch9200_mdio_read() ignores the return value of control_read(), leading to uinit-access of "buff". To fix this we should check the return value of control_read() and return early on error.

CVSS 3.1
5.5 MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS
0.17% probability · 6th percentile
CISA KEV
Not listed
Weakness
CWE-908
Affected
linux/linux kernel · debian/debian linux
Source
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.