CVE-2025-38488: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability
HIGHCVE-2025-38488 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 any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer..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-2025-38488 at a Glance
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).
How to Fix CVE-2025-38488
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.
Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:
mvn dependency:treeHow to Check if You Are Affected
To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2025-38488, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:
mvn dependency:treeAnalyze 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 any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.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
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2025-38488?
Which Software versions are affected?
What version fixes CVE-2025-38488?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-38488?
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-38488?
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2025-38488?
Machine-readable OSV JSON
OSV v1.5 Schema
{
"schema_version" : "1.4.0",
"id" : "GHSA-8gh3-6693-hwj4",
"modified" : "2026-01-07T18:30:18Z",
"published" : "2025-07-28T12:30:35Z",
"aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-38488" ],
"details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nsmb: client: fix use-after-free in crypt_message when using async crypto\n\nThe CVE-2024-50047 fix removed asynchronous crypto handling from\ncrypt_message(), assuming all crypto operations are synchronous.\nHowever, when hardware crypto accelerators are used, this can cause\nuse-after-free crashes:\n\n crypt_message()\n // Allocate the creq buffer containing the req\n creq = smb2_get_aead_req(..., &req);\n\n // Async encryption returns -EINPROGRESS immediately\n rc = enc ? crypto_aead_encrypt(req) : crypto_aead_decrypt(req);\n\n // Free creq while async operation is still in progress\n kvfree_sensitive(creq, ...);\n\nHardware crypto modules often implement async AEAD operations for\nperformance. When crypto_aead_encrypt/decrypt() returns -EINPROGRESS,\nthe operation completes asynchronously. Without crypto_wait_req(),\nthe function immediately frees the request buffer, leading to crashes\nwhen the driver later accesses the freed memory.\n\nThis results in a use-after-free condition when the hardware crypto\ndriver later accesses the freed request structure, leading to kernel\ncrashes with NULL pointer dereferences.\n\nThe issue occurs because crypto_alloc_aead() with mask=0 doesn't\nguarantee synchronous operation. Even without CRYPTO_ALG_ASYNC in\nthe mask, async implementations can be selected.\n\nFix by restoring the async crypto handling:\n- DECLARE_CRYPTO_WAIT(wait) for completion tracking\n- aead_request_set_callback() for async completion notification\n- crypto_wait_req() to wait for operation completion\n\nThis ensures the request buffer isn't freed until the crypto operation\ncompletes, whether synchronous or asynchronous, while preserving the\nCVE-2024-50047 fix.",
"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-2025-38488"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/15a0a5de49507062bc3be4014a403d8cea5533de"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2a76bc2b24ed889a689fb1c9015307bf16aafb5b"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5d047b12f86cc3b9fde1171c02d9bccf4dba0632"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6550b2bef095d0dd2d2c8390d2ea4c3837028833"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8ac90f6824fc44d2e55a82503ddfc95defb19ae0"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9a1d3e8d40f151c2d5a5f40c410e6e433f62f438"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b220bed63330c0e1733dc06ea8e75d5b9962b6b6"
}, {
"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" : [ "CWE-416" ],
"severity" : "HIGH",
"github_reviewed" : false,
"github_reviewed_at" : null,
"nvd_published_at" : "2025-07-28T12:15:30Z"
}
}