CVE-2025-21864: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-qpwf-m697-v547
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CVSS 5.5
CWE-476
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-21864 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is null.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2025-21864 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-21864
GHSA Identifier GHSA-qpwf-m697-v547
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.5
CWE Classification CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference
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-2025-21864

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-2025-21864, 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-476: NULL Pointer Dereference, where the product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is null. 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: tcp: drop secpath at the same time as we currently drop dst Xiumei reported hitting the WARN in xfrm6_tunnel_net_exit while running tests that boil down to: - create a pair of netns - run a basic TCP test over ipcomp6 - delete the pair of netns The xfrm_state found on spi_byaddr was not deleted at the time we delete the netns, because we still have a reference on it. This lingering reference comes from a secpath (which holds a ref on the xfrm_state), which is still attached to an skb. This skb is not leaked, it ends up on sk_receive_queue and then gets defer-free'd by skb_attempt_defer_free. The problem happens when we defer freeing an skb (push it on one CPU's defer_list), and don't flush that list before the netns is deleted. In that case, we still have a reference on the xfrm_state that we don't expect at this point. We already drop the skb's dst in the TCP receive path when it's no longer needed, so let's also drop the secpath. At this point, tcp_filter has already called into the LSM hooks that may require the secpath, so it should not be needed anymore. However, in some of those places, the MPTCP extension has just been attached to the skb, so we cannot simply drop all extensions.

References

NVD — CVE-2025-21864 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21864
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-082556.html
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ss... WEB
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-457936.html
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ss... WEB
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-784472.html
git.kernel.org/stable/c/69cafd9413... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/69cafd9413084cd5012cf5d7c7ec6f3d493726d9
git.kernel.org/stable/c/87858bbf21... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/87858bbf21da239ace300d61dd209907995c0491
git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b6412e697... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b6412e6979f6f9e0632075f8f008937b5cd4efd
git.kernel.org/stable/c/cd34a07f74... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cd34a07f744451e2ecf9005bb7d24d0b2fb83656
git.kernel.org/stable/c/f1d5e6a5e4... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f1d5e6a5e468308af7759cf5276779d3155c5e98
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00045.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-21864?
CVE-2025-21864 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2025-21864?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-21864?
CVE-2025-21864 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-2025-21864?
CVE-2025-21864 is classified under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference (The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2025-21864?
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-qpwf-m697-v547",
  "modified" : "2026-10-15T03:34:42Z",
  "published" : "2025-03-12T12:30:59Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-21864" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\ntcp: drop secpath at the same time as we currently drop dst\n\nXiumei reported hitting the WARN in xfrm6_tunnel_net_exit while\nrunning tests that boil down to:\n - create a pair of netns\n - run a basic TCP test over ipcomp6\n - delete the pair of netns\n\nThe xfrm_state found on spi_byaddr was not deleted at the time we\ndelete the netns, because we still have a reference on it. This\nlingering reference comes from a secpath (which holds a ref on the\nxfrm_state), which is still attached to an skb. This skb is not\nleaked, it ends up on sk_receive_queue and then gets defer-free'd by\nskb_attempt_defer_free.\n\nThe problem happens when we defer freeing an skb (push it on one CPU's\ndefer_list), and don't flush that list before the netns is deleted. In\nthat case, we still have a reference on the xfrm_state that we don't\nexpect at this point.\n\nWe already drop the skb's dst in the TCP receive path when it's no\nlonger needed, so let's also drop the secpath. At this point,\ntcp_filter has already called into the LSM hooks that may require the\nsecpath, so it should not be needed anymore. However, in some of those\nplaces, the MPTCP extension has just been attached to the skb, so we\ncannot simply drop all extensions.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
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    "url" : "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-019113.html"
  }, {
    "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"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-784472.html"
  }, {
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  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cd34a07f744451e2ecf9005bb7d24d0b2fb83656"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f1d5e6a5e468308af7759cf5276779d3155c5e98"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00045.html"
  } ],
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}