Bug 2440641 (CVE-2025-71227)

Summary:	CVE-2025-71227 kernel: wifi: mac80211: don't WARN for connections on invalid channels
Product:	[Other] Security Response	Reporter:	OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component:	vulnerability	Assignee:	Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:
Severity:	low	Docs Contact:
Priority:	low
Version:	unspecified	Keywords:	Security
Target Milestone:	---
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	---
Doc Text:	A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's mac80211 WiFi subsystem. When a regulatory change disables a channel between the time it is scanned and when a connection attempt is made, a kernel warning (WARN) is triggered. This fix replaces the warning with a more informative error message, as the warning was not appropriate for this recoverable condition.	Story Points:	---
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Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-02-18 15:03:24 UTC

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

wifi: mac80211: don't WARN for connections on invalid channels

It's not clear (to me) how exactly syzbot managed to hit this,
but it seems conceivable that e.g. regulatory changed and has
disabled a channel between scanning (channel is checked to be
usable by cfg80211_get_ies_channel_number) and connecting on
the channel later.

With one scenario that isn't covered elsewhere described above,
the warning isn't good, replace it with a (more informative)
error message.

Comment 1 Alexander B 2026-02-18 17:52:27 UTC

Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026021859-CVE-2025-71227-949c@gregkh/T