CVE-2025-21861: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-4r9v-vhgw-qfm4
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CVSS 5.5
CWE-416
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-21861 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-416: Use After Free) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. at some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2025-21861 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-21861
GHSA Identifier GHSA-4r9v-vhgw-qfm4
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.5
CWE Classification CWE-416: Use After Free
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Local (AV:L)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2025-21861

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2025-21861, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-416: Use After Free, where the product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. at some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/migrate_device: don't add folio to be freed to LRU in migrate_device_finalize() If migration succeeded, we called folio_migrate_flags()->mem_cgroup_migrate() to migrate the memcg from the old to the new folio. This will set memcg_data of the old folio to 0. Similarly, if migration failed, memcg_data of the dst folio is left unset. If we call folio_putback_lru() on such folios (memcg_data == 0), we will add the folio to be freed to the LRU, making memcg code unhappy. Running the hmm selftests: # ./hmm-tests ... # RUN hmm.hmm_device_private.migrate ... [ 102.078007][T14893] page: refcount:1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x7ff27d200 pfn:0x13cc00 [ 102.079974][T14893] anon flags: 0x17ff00000020018(uptodate|dirty|swapbacked|node=0|zone=2|lastcpupid=0x7ff) [ 102.082037][T14893] raw: 017ff00000020018 dead000000000100 dead000000000122 ffff8881353896c9 [ 102.083687][T14893] raw: 00000007ff27d200 0000000000000000 00000001ffffffff 0000000000000000 [ 102.085331][T14893] page dumped because: VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_FOLIO(!memcg && !mem_cgroup_disabled()) [ 102.087230][T14893] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 102.088279][T14893] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 14893 at ./include/linux/memcontrol.h:726 folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170 [ 102.090478][T14893] Modules linked in: [ 102.091244][T14893] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 14893 Comm: hmm-tests Not tainted 6.13.0-09623-g6c216bc522fd #151 [ 102.093089][T14893] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-2.fc40 04/01/2014 [ 102.094848][T14893] RIP: 0010:folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170 [ 102.096104][T14893] Code: ... [ 102.099908][T14893] RSP: 0018:ffffc900236c37b0 EFLAGS: 00010293 [ 102.101152][T14893] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffea0004f30000 RCX: ffffffff8183f426 [ 102.102684][T14893] RDX: ffff8881063cb880 RSI: ffffffff81b8117f RDI: ffff8881063cb880 [ 102.104227][T14893] RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000005 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 102.105757][T14893] R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000002 R12: ffffc900236c37d8 [ 102.107296][T14893] R13: ffff888277a2bcb0 R14: 000000000000001f R15: 0000000000000000 [ 102.108830][T14893] FS: 00007ff27dbdd740(0000) GS:ffff888277a00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 102.110643][T14893] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 102.111924][T14893] CR2: 00007ff27d400000 CR3: 000000010866e000 CR4: 0000000000750ef0 [ 102.113478][T14893] PKRU: 55555554 [ 102.114172][T14893] Call Trace: [ 102.114805][T14893] <TASK> [ 102.115397][T14893] ? folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170 [ 102.116547][T14893] ? __warn.cold+0x110/0x210 [ 102.117461][T14893] ? folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170 [ 102.118667][T14893] ? report_bug+0x1b9/0x320 [ 102.119571][T14893] ? handle_bug+0x54/0x90 [ 102.120494][T14893] ? exc_invalid_op+0x17/0x50 [ 102.121433][T14893] ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1a/0x20 [ 102.122435][T14893] ? __wake_up_klogd.part.0+0x76/0xd0 [ 102.123506][T14893] ? dump_page+0x4f/0x60 [ 102.124352][T14893] ? folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170 [ 102.125500][T14893] folio_batch_move_lru+0xd4/0x200 [ 102.126577][T14893] ? __pfx_lru_add+0x10/0x10 [ 102.127505][T14893] __folio_batch_add_and_move+0x391/0x720 [ 102.128633][T14893] ? __pfx_lru_add+0x10/0x10 [ 102.129550][T14893] folio_putback_lru+0x16/0x80 [ 102.130564][T14893] migrate_device_finalize+0x9b/0x530 [ 102.131640][T14893] dmirror_migrate_to_device.constprop.0+0x7c5/0xad0 [ 102.133047][T14893] dmirror_fops_unlocked_ioctl+0x89b/0xc80 Likely, nothing else goes wrong: putting the last folio reference will remove the folio from the LRU again. So besides memcg complaining, adding the folio to be freed to the LRU is just an unnecessary step. The new flow resembles what we have in migrate_folio_move(): add the dst to the lru, rem ---truncated---

References

NVD — CVE-2025-21861 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21861
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ss... WEB
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-019113.html
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ss... WEB
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-457936.html
git.kernel.org/stable/c/069dd21ea8... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/069dd21ea8262204f94737878389c2815a054a9e
git.kernel.org/stable/c/20fb6fc518... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/20fb6fc51863fbff7868de8b5f6d249d2094df1f
git.kernel.org/stable/c/3f9240d59e... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3f9240d59e9a95d19f06120bfd1d0e681c6c0ac7
git.kernel.org/stable/c/41cddf83d8... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/41cddf83d8b00f29fd105e7a0777366edc69a5cf
git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f52f7c50f... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f52f7c50f5b6f5eeb06823e21fe546d90f9c595
git.kernel.org/stable/c/61fa824e30... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61fa824e304ed162fe965f64999068e6fcff2059
git.kernel.org/stable/c/64397b0cb7... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64397b0cb7c09e3ef3f9f5c7c17299c4eebd3875
git.kernel.org/stable/c/78f579cb7d... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/78f579cb7d825134e071a1714d8d0c4fd0ffe459

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-21861?
CVE-2025-21861 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-416: Use After Free.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2025-21861?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-21861?
CVE-2025-21861 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-21861?
CVE-2025-21861 is classified under CWE-416: Use After Free (The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2025-21861?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-4r9v-vhgw-qfm4",
  "modified" : "2026-10-15T03:34:42Z",
  "published" : "2025-03-12T12:30:59Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-21861" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmm/migrate_device: don't add folio to be freed to LRU in migrate_device_finalize()\n\nIf migration succeeded, we called\nfolio_migrate_flags()->mem_cgroup_migrate() to migrate the memcg from the\nold to the new folio.  This will set memcg_data of the old folio to 0.\n\nSimilarly, if migration failed, memcg_data of the dst folio is left unset.\n\nIf we call folio_putback_lru() on such folios (memcg_data == 0), we will\nadd the folio to be freed to the LRU, making memcg code unhappy.  Running\nthe hmm selftests:\n\n  # ./hmm-tests\n  ...\n  #  RUN           hmm.hmm_device_private.migrate ...\n  [  102.078007][T14893] page: refcount:1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x7ff27d200 pfn:0x13cc00\n  [  102.079974][T14893] anon flags: 0x17ff00000020018(uptodate|dirty|swapbacked|node=0|zone=2|lastcpupid=0x7ff)\n  [  102.082037][T14893] raw: 017ff00000020018 dead000000000100 dead000000000122 ffff8881353896c9\n  [  102.083687][T14893] raw: 00000007ff27d200 0000000000000000 00000001ffffffff 0000000000000000\n  [  102.085331][T14893] page dumped because: VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_FOLIO(!memcg && !mem_cgroup_disabled())\n  [  102.087230][T14893] ------------[ cut here ]------------\n  [  102.088279][T14893] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 14893 at ./include/linux/memcontrol.h:726 folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170\n  [  102.090478][T14893] Modules linked in:\n  [  102.091244][T14893] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 14893 Comm: hmm-tests Not tainted 6.13.0-09623-g6c216bc522fd #151\n  [  102.093089][T14893] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-2.fc40 04/01/2014\n  [  102.094848][T14893] RIP: 0010:folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170\n  [  102.096104][T14893] Code: ...\n  [  102.099908][T14893] RSP: 0018:ffffc900236c37b0 EFLAGS: 00010293\n  [  102.101152][T14893] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffea0004f30000 RCX: ffffffff8183f426\n  [  102.102684][T14893] RDX: ffff8881063cb880 RSI: ffffffff81b8117f RDI: ffff8881063cb880\n  [  102.104227][T14893] RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000005 R09: 0000000000000000\n  [  102.105757][T14893] R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000002 R12: ffffc900236c37d8\n  [  102.107296][T14893] R13: ffff888277a2bcb0 R14: 000000000000001f R15: 0000000000000000\n  [  102.108830][T14893] FS:  00007ff27dbdd740(0000) GS:ffff888277a00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000\n  [  102.110643][T14893] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033\n  [  102.111924][T14893] CR2: 00007ff27d400000 CR3: 000000010866e000 CR4: 0000000000750ef0\n  [  102.113478][T14893] PKRU: 55555554\n  [  102.114172][T14893] Call Trace:\n  [  102.114805][T14893]  <TASK>\n  [  102.115397][T14893]  ? folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170\n  [  102.116547][T14893]  ? __warn.cold+0x110/0x210\n  [  102.117461][T14893]  ? folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170\n  [  102.118667][T14893]  ? report_bug+0x1b9/0x320\n  [  102.119571][T14893]  ? handle_bug+0x54/0x90\n  [  102.120494][T14893]  ? exc_invalid_op+0x17/0x50\n  [  102.121433][T14893]  ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1a/0x20\n  [  102.122435][T14893]  ? __wake_up_klogd.part.0+0x76/0xd0\n  [  102.123506][T14893]  ? dump_page+0x4f/0x60\n  [  102.124352][T14893]  ? folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170\n  [  102.125500][T14893]  folio_batch_move_lru+0xd4/0x200\n  [  102.126577][T14893]  ? __pfx_lru_add+0x10/0x10\n  [  102.127505][T14893]  __folio_batch_add_and_move+0x391/0x720\n  [  102.128633][T14893]  ? __pfx_lru_add+0x10/0x10\n  [  102.129550][T14893]  folio_putback_lru+0x16/0x80\n  [  102.130564][T14893]  migrate_device_finalize+0x9b/0x530\n  [  102.131640][T14893]  dmirror_migrate_to_device.constprop.0+0x7c5/0xad0\n  [  102.133047][T14893]  dmirror_fops_unlocked_ioctl+0x89b/0xc80\n\nLikely, nothing else goes wrong: putting the last folio reference will\nremove the folio from the LRU again.  So besides memcg complaining, adding\nthe folio to be freed to the LRU is just an unnecessary step.\n\nThe new flow resembles what we have in migrate_folio_move(): add the dst\nto the lru, rem\n---truncated---",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21861"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-019113.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-457936.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/069dd21ea8262204f94737878389c2815a054a9e"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/20fb6fc51863fbff7868de8b5f6d249d2094df1f"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3f9240d59e9a95d19f06120bfd1d0e681c6c0ac7"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/41cddf83d8b00f29fd105e7a0777366edc69a5cf"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f52f7c50f5b6f5eeb06823e21fe546d90f9c595"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61fa824e304ed162fe965f64999068e6fcff2059"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64397b0cb7c09e3ef3f9f5c7c17299c4eebd3875"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/78f579cb7d825134e071a1714d8d0c4fd0ffe459"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-416" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-03-12T10:15:19Z"
  }
}