CVE-2025-21812: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-5qmp-w6rv-24wf
CVSS 7.8
CWE-416
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-21812 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.8) 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 any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer..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-2025-21812 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-21812
GHSA Identifier GHSA-5qmp-w6rv-24wf
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.8
CWE Classification CWE-416: Use After Free
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.8

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:H/I:H/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 High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2025-21812

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-2025-21812, 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: ax25: rcu protect dev->ax25_ptr syzbot found a lockdep issue [1]. We should remove ax25 RTNL dependency in ax25_setsockopt() This should also fix a variety of possible UAF in ax25. [1] WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected 6.13.0-rc3-syzkaller-00762-g9268abe611b0 #0 Not tainted ------------------------------------------------------ syz.5.1818/12806 is trying to acquire lock: ffffffff8fcb3988 (rtnl_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: ax25_setsockopt+0xa55/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:680 but task is already holding lock: ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1618 [inline] ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: ax25_setsockopt+0x209/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:574 which lock already depends on the new lock. the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is: -> #1 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}: lock_acquire+0x1ed/0x550 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5849 lock_sock_nested+0x48/0x100 net/core/sock.c:3642 lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1618 [inline] ax25_kill_by_device net/ax25/af_ax25.c:101 [inline] ax25_device_event+0x24d/0x580 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:146 notifier_call_chain+0x1a5/0x3f0 kernel/notifier.c:85 __dev_notify_flags+0x207/0x400 dev_change_flags+0xf0/0x1a0 net/core/dev.c:9026 dev_ifsioc+0x7c8/0xe70 net/core/dev_ioctl.c:563 dev_ioctl+0x719/0x1340 net/core/dev_ioctl.c:820 sock_do_ioctl+0x240/0x460 net/socket.c:1234 sock_ioctl+0x626/0x8e0 net/socket.c:1339 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:906 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl+0xf5/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:892 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f -> #0 (rtnl_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}: check_prev_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3161 [inline] check_prevs_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3280 [inline] validate_chain+0x18ef/0x5920 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3904 __lock_acquire+0x1397/0x2100 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5226 lock_acquire+0x1ed/0x550 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5849 __mutex_lock_common kernel/locking/mutex.c:585 [inline] __mutex_lock+0x1ac/0xee0 kernel/locking/mutex.c:735 ax25_setsockopt+0xa55/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:680 do_sock_setsockopt+0x3af/0x720 net/socket.c:2324 __sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2349 [inline] __do_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2355 [inline] __se_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2352 [inline] __x64_sys_setsockopt+0x1ee/0x280 net/socket.c:2352 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f other info that might help us debug this: Possible unsafe locking scenario: CPU0 CPU1 ---- ---- lock(sk_lock-AF_AX25); lock(rtnl_mutex); lock(sk_lock-AF_AX25); lock(rtnl_mutex); *** DEADLOCK *** 1 lock held by syz.5.1818/12806: #0: ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1618 [inline] #0: ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: ax25_setsockopt+0x209/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:574 stack backtrace: CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 12806 Comm: syz.5.1818 Not tainted 6.13.0-rc3-syzkaller-00762-g9268abe611b0 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 09/13/2024 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x241/0x360 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_circular_bug+0x13a/0x1b0 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:2074 check_noncircular+0x36a/0x4a0 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:2206 check_prev_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3161 [inline] check_prevs_add kernel/lockin ---truncated---

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-21812?
CVE-2025-21812 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-2025-21812?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-21812?
CVE-2025-21812 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-21812?
CVE-2025-21812 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-2025-21812?
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
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-5qmp-w6rv-24wf",
  "modified" : "2025-11-03T21:33:02Z",
  "published" : "2025-02-27T21:32:17Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-21812" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nax25: rcu protect dev->ax25_ptr\n\nsyzbot found a lockdep issue [1].\n\nWe should remove ax25 RTNL dependency in ax25_setsockopt()\n\nThis should also fix a variety of possible UAF in ax25.\n\n[1]\n\nWARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected\n6.13.0-rc3-syzkaller-00762-g9268abe611b0 #0 Not tainted\n------------------------------------------------------\nsyz.5.1818/12806 is trying to acquire lock:\n ffffffff8fcb3988 (rtnl_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: ax25_setsockopt+0xa55/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:680\n\nbut task is already holding lock:\n ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1618 [inline]\n ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: ax25_setsockopt+0x209/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:574\n\nwhich lock already depends on the new lock.\n\nthe existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is:\n\n-> #1 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}:\n        lock_acquire+0x1ed/0x550 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5849\n        lock_sock_nested+0x48/0x100 net/core/sock.c:3642\n        lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1618 [inline]\n        ax25_kill_by_device net/ax25/af_ax25.c:101 [inline]\n        ax25_device_event+0x24d/0x580 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:146\n        notifier_call_chain+0x1a5/0x3f0 kernel/notifier.c:85\n       __dev_notify_flags+0x207/0x400\n        dev_change_flags+0xf0/0x1a0 net/core/dev.c:9026\n        dev_ifsioc+0x7c8/0xe70 net/core/dev_ioctl.c:563\n        dev_ioctl+0x719/0x1340 net/core/dev_ioctl.c:820\n        sock_do_ioctl+0x240/0x460 net/socket.c:1234\n        sock_ioctl+0x626/0x8e0 net/socket.c:1339\n        vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline]\n        __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:906 [inline]\n        __se_sys_ioctl+0xf5/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:892\n        do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline]\n        do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83\n       entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f\n\n-> #0 (rtnl_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}:\n        check_prev_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3161 [inline]\n        check_prevs_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3280 [inline]\n        validate_chain+0x18ef/0x5920 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3904\n        __lock_acquire+0x1397/0x2100 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5226\n        lock_acquire+0x1ed/0x550 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5849\n        __mutex_lock_common kernel/locking/mutex.c:585 [inline]\n        __mutex_lock+0x1ac/0xee0 kernel/locking/mutex.c:735\n        ax25_setsockopt+0xa55/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:680\n        do_sock_setsockopt+0x3af/0x720 net/socket.c:2324\n        __sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2349 [inline]\n        __do_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2355 [inline]\n        __se_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2352 [inline]\n        __x64_sys_setsockopt+0x1ee/0x280 net/socket.c:2352\n        do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline]\n        do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83\n       entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f\n\nother info that might help us debug this:\n\n Possible unsafe locking scenario:\n\n       CPU0                    CPU1\n       ----                    ----\n  lock(sk_lock-AF_AX25);\n                               lock(rtnl_mutex);\n                               lock(sk_lock-AF_AX25);\n  lock(rtnl_mutex);\n\n *** DEADLOCK ***\n\n1 lock held by syz.5.1818/12806:\n  #0: ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1618 [inline]\n  #0: ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: ax25_setsockopt+0x209/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:574\n\nstack backtrace:\nCPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 12806 Comm: syz.5.1818 Not tainted 6.13.0-rc3-syzkaller-00762-g9268abe611b0 #0\nHardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 09/13/2024\nCall Trace:\n <TASK>\n  __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline]\n  dump_stack_lvl+0x241/0x360 lib/dump_stack.c:120\n  print_circular_bug+0x13a/0x1b0 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:2074\n  check_noncircular+0x36a/0x4a0 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:2206\n  check_prev_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3161 [inline]\n  check_prevs_add kernel/lockin\n---truncated---",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21812"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2802ed4ced27ebd474828fc67ffd7d66f11e3605"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7705d8a7f2c26c80973c81093db07c6022b2b30e"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8937f5e38a218531dce2a89fae60e3adcc2311e1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/95fc45d1dea8e1253f8ec58abc5befb71553d666"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c2531db6de3c95551be58878f859c6a053b7eb2e"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/03/msg00028.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-416" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-02-27T20:16:03Z"
  }
}