CVE-2025-38721: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-6237-rh4h-82p6
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CVSS 5.5
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-38721 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2025-38721 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-38721
GHSA Identifier GHSA-6237-rh4h-82p6
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.5
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
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-2025-38721

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-2025-38721, 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 General Security Weakness. 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: netfilter: ctnetlink: fix refcount leak on table dump There is a reference count leak in ctnetlink_dump_table(): if (res < 0) { nf_conntrack_get(&ct->ct_general); // HERE cb->args[1] = (unsigned long)ct; ... While its very unlikely, its possible that ct == last. If this happens, then the refcount of ct was already incremented. This 2nd increment is never undone. This prevents the conntrack object from being released, which in turn keeps prevents cnet->count from dropping back to 0. This will then block the netns dismantle (or conntrack rmmod) as nf_conntrack_cleanup_net_list() will wait forever. This can be reproduced by running conntrack_resize.sh selftest in a loop. It takes ~20 minutes for me on a preemptible kernel on average before I see a runaway kworker spinning in nf_conntrack_cleanup_net_list. One fix would to change this to: if (res < 0) { if (ct != last) nf_conntrack_get(&ct->ct_general); But this reference counting isn't needed in the first place. We can just store a cookie value instead. A followup patch will do the same for ctnetlink_exp_dump_table, it looks to me as if this has the same problem and like ctnetlink_dump_table, we only need a 'skip hint', not the actual object so we can apply the same cookie strategy there as well.

References

NVD — CVE-2025-38721 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38721
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-032379.html
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ss... WEB
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-082556.html
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ss... WEB
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-457936.html
git.kernel.org/stable/c/19b909a4b1... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/19b909a4b1452fb97e477d2f08b97f8d04095619
git.kernel.org/stable/c/30cf811058... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/30cf811058552b8cd0e98dff677ef3f89d6d34ce
git.kernel.org/stable/c/41462f4cfc... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/41462f4cfc583513833f87f9ee55d12da651a7e3
git.kernel.org/stable/c/586892e341... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/586892e341fbf698e7cbaca293e1353957db725a
git.kernel.org/stable/c/962518c6ca... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/962518c6ca9f9a13df099cafa429f72f68ad61f0
git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2cb4df787... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2cb4df7872de069f809de2f076ec8e54d649fe3
git.kernel.org/stable/c/a62d6aa3f3... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a62d6aa3f31f216b637a4c71b7a8bfc7c57f049b
git.kernel.org/stable/c/de788b2e62... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de788b2e6227462b6dcd0e07474e72c089008f74
git.kernel.org/stable/c/e14f72aa66... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e14f72aa66c029db106921d621edcedef68e065b
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-38721?
CVE-2025-38721 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under General Security Weakness.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2025-38721?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-38721?
CVE-2025-38721 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-2025-38721?
CVE-2025-38721 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2025-38721?
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 
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  "id" : "GHSA-6237-rh4h-82p6",
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  "published" : "2025-09-05T18:31:17Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-38721" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnetfilter: ctnetlink: fix refcount leak on table dump\n\nThere is a reference count leak in ctnetlink_dump_table():\n      if (res < 0) {\n                nf_conntrack_get(&ct->ct_general); // HERE\n                cb->args[1] = (unsigned long)ct;\n                ...\n\nWhile its very unlikely, its possible that ct == last.\nIf this happens, then the refcount of ct was already incremented.\nThis 2nd increment is never undone.\n\nThis prevents the conntrack object from being released, which in turn\nkeeps prevents cnet->count from dropping back to 0.\n\nThis will then block the netns dismantle (or conntrack rmmod) as\nnf_conntrack_cleanup_net_list() will wait forever.\n\nThis can be reproduced by running conntrack_resize.sh selftest in a loop.\nIt takes ~20 minutes for me on a preemptible kernel on average before\nI see a runaway kworker spinning in nf_conntrack_cleanup_net_list.\n\nOne fix would to change this to:\n        if (res < 0) {\n\t\tif (ct != last)\n\t                nf_conntrack_get(&ct->ct_general);\n\nBut this reference counting isn't needed in the first place.\nWe can just store a cookie value instead.\n\nA followup patch will do the same for ctnetlink_exp_dump_table,\nit looks to me as if this has the same problem and like\nctnetlink_dump_table, we only need a 'skip hint', not the actual\nobject so we can apply the same cookie strategy there as well.",
  "severity" : [ {
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    "url" : "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-019113.html"
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    "url" : "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-032379.html"
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    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-082556.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-457936.html"
  }, {
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    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/30cf811058552b8cd0e98dff677ef3f89d6d34ce"
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    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/586892e341fbf698e7cbaca293e1353957db725a"
  }, {
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    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/962518c6ca9f9a13df099cafa429f72f68ad61f0"
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    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2cb4df7872de069f809de2f076ec8e54d649fe3"
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    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a62d6aa3f31f216b637a4c71b7a8bfc7c57f049b"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de788b2e6227462b6dcd0e07474e72c089008f74"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e14f72aa66c029db106921d621edcedef68e065b"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-09-04T16:15:41Z"
  }
}