CVE-2025-58344: Samsung Exynos 980 Firmware DOS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-58344 Overview

A critical memory exhaustion vulnerability has been discovered in the Wi-Fi driver of Samsung Mobile Processor and Wearable Processor Exynos chipsets. The vulnerability exists in the unbounded memory allocation handling within the /proc/driver/unifi0/conn_log_event_burst_to_us write operation, which can lead to kernel memory exhaustion and system denial of service.

This vulnerability (CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) affects a wide range of Samsung Exynos processors used in both mobile devices and wearable products. A local attacker can exploit this flaw to trigger unbounded memory allocation, causing the kernel to exhaust available memory resources and potentially crash the affected device.

Critical Impact

Local attackers can cause kernel memory exhaustion through unbounded memory allocation in the Wi-Fi driver, leading to denial of service on affected Samsung Exynos devices.

Affected Products

• Samsung Exynos 980 (Mobile Processor)
• Samsung Exynos 850 (Mobile Processor)
• Samsung Exynos 1080 (Mobile Processor)
• Samsung Exynos 1280 (Mobile Processor)
• Samsung Exynos 1330 (Mobile Processor)
• Samsung Exynos 1380 (Mobile Processor)
• Samsung Exynos 1480 (Mobile Processor)
• Samsung Exynos 1580 (Mobile Processor)
• Samsung Exynos W920 (Wearable Processor)
• Samsung Exynos W930 (Wearable Processor)
• Samsung Exynos W1000 (Wearable Processor)

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-03 - CVE-2025-58344 published to NVD
• 2026-02-05 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-58344

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the Wi-Fi driver implementation across multiple Samsung Exynos processor families. The flaw is classified as CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling), indicating that the driver fails to properly limit or throttle resource allocation when processing write operations to the affected proc filesystem interface.

When a write operation is performed on /proc/driver/unifi0/conn_log_event_burst_to_us, the driver allocates kernel memory without proper bounds checking. This allows an attacker with local access to repeatedly trigger memory allocations until the kernel's available memory is exhausted. The attack requires local access to the device but does not require any special privileges to execute, making it accessible to any process running on the affected system.

The impact is primarily availability-focused, as successful exploitation results in denial of service through memory exhaustion. There is no confidentiality or integrity impact, as the vulnerability does not allow data exfiltration or modification.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the absence of proper input validation and resource limiting in the Wi-Fi driver's write handler for the conn_log_event_burst_to_us proc entry. The driver fails to:

1. Validate the size of incoming write requests before allocating memory
2. Implement maximum allocation limits for the connection log event buffer
3. Properly throttle repeated allocation requests from user space

This allows an attacker to submit arbitrarily large or numerous write requests, each triggering unbounded kernel memory allocations until system resources are exhausted.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is local, requiring the attacker to have access to execute code on the affected device. The attack can be performed through the following mechanism:

An attacker writes malicious data to the vulnerable proc filesystem interface at /proc/driver/unifi0/conn_log_event_burst_to_us. Each write operation triggers memory allocation without proper size validation or throttling. By repeatedly issuing write operations or crafting writes with excessive size parameters, the attacker can cause the kernel to allocate memory until exhaustion occurs.

The attack does not require elevated privileges, as the proc interface may be accessible to unprivileged processes depending on the device's configuration. No user interaction is required for exploitation once the attacker has local code execution capability.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-58344

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual kernel memory consumption spikes on devices with affected Exynos processors
• System crashes or kernel panics related to memory exhaustion on Samsung devices
• Abnormal write activity to /proc/driver/unifi0/conn_log_event_burst_to_us
• Application crashes due to memory allocation failures following Wi-Fi driver activity

Detection Strategies

• Monitor kernel memory usage patterns for sudden spikes that correlate with proc filesystem access
• Implement file access monitoring for writes to /proc/driver/unifi0/ directory entries
• Configure kernel logging to capture memory allocation failures and OOM (Out of Memory) killer events
• Deploy endpoint detection solutions capable of monitoring proc filesystem interactions

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable kernel memory usage alerts with thresholds appropriate for the device class
• Monitor system stability metrics for unexpected reboots or crashes
• Log all proc filesystem write operations for forensic analysis capability
• Implement real-time monitoring of Wi-Fi driver activity on enterprise-managed devices

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-58344

Immediate Actions Required

• Apply firmware updates from Samsung as soon as they become available for affected Exynos processors
• Restrict local access to affected devices to trusted users only
• Review and restrict permissions on the /proc/driver/unifi0/ directory where possible
• Monitor affected devices for signs of exploitation attempts

Patch Information

Samsung has published security updates addressing this vulnerability. Organizations and users should consult Samsung's Product Security Updates for the latest firmware versions and detailed patch information for their specific Exynos processor model.

For specific details about CVE-2025-58344, refer to Samsung's dedicated advisory page.

Device manufacturers using affected Exynos chipsets should integrate the latest firmware updates into their device updates and push them to end users promptly.

Workarounds

• Limit local access to devices running affected Exynos processors to trusted applications only
• Consider implementing SELinux or other mandatory access control policies to restrict proc filesystem access
• Monitor for unusual memory consumption patterns and implement automated alerts
• Disable Wi-Fi functionality if not required until patching is possible (impacts device functionality)

# Monitor proc filesystem access (requires root)
# This can help detect exploitation attempts
cat /proc/meminfo | grep -E "(MemFree|MemAvailable|Committed_AS)"

# Check for existence of vulnerable proc entry
ls -la /proc/driver/unifi0/ 2>/dev/null

# Monitor kernel logs for OOM events
dmesg | grep -i "out of memory"