CVE-2025-21858: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-r9xq-fh23-wm6f
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CVSS 7.8
CWE-416
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-21858 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 any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer..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-2025-21858 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-21858
GHSA Identifier GHSA-r9xq-fh23-wm6f
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-2025-21858

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-2025-21858, 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: geneve: Fix use-after-free in geneve_find_dev(). syzkaller reported a use-after-free in geneve_find_dev() [0] without repro. geneve_configure() links struct geneve_dev.next to net_generic(net, geneve_net_id)->geneve_list. The net here could differ from dev_net(dev) if IFLA_NET_NS_PID, IFLA_NET_NS_FD, or IFLA_TARGET_NETNSID is set. When dev_net(dev) is dismantled, geneve_exit_batch_rtnl() finally calls unregister_netdevice_queue() for each dev in the netns, and later the dev is freed. However, its geneve_dev.next is still linked to the backend UDP socket netns. Then, use-after-free will occur when another geneve dev is created in the netns. Let's call geneve_dellink() instead in geneve_destroy_tunnels(). [0]: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in geneve_find_dev drivers/net/geneve.c:1295 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in geneve_configure+0x234/0x858 drivers/net/geneve.c:1343 Read of size 2 at addr ffff000054d6ee24 by task syz.1.4029/13441 CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 13441 Comm: syz.1.4029 Not tainted 6.13.0-g0ad9617c78ac #24 dc35ca22c79fb82e8e7bc5c9c9adafea898b1e3d Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) Call trace: show_stack+0x38/0x50 arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c:466 (C) __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0xbc/0x108 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline] print_report+0x16c/0x6f0 mm/kasan/report.c:489 kasan_report+0xc0/0x120 mm/kasan/report.c:602 __asan_report_load2_noabort+0x20/0x30 mm/kasan/report_generic.c:379 geneve_find_dev drivers/net/geneve.c:1295 [inline] geneve_configure+0x234/0x858 drivers/net/geneve.c:1343 geneve_newlink+0xb8/0x128 drivers/net/geneve.c:1634 rtnl_newlink_create+0x23c/0x868 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3795 __rtnl_newlink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3906 [inline] rtnl_newlink+0x1054/0x1630 net/core/rtnetlink.c:4021 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x61c/0x918 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6911 netlink_rcv_skb+0x1dc/0x398 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2543 rtnetlink_rcv+0x34/0x50 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6938 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1322 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x618/0x838 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1348 netlink_sendmsg+0x5fc/0x8b0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1892 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:713 [inline] __sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:728 [inline] ____sys_sendmsg+0x410/0x6f8 net/socket.c:2568 ___sys_sendmsg+0x178/0x1d8 net/socket.c:2622 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2654 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2659 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2657 [inline] __arm64_sys_sendmsg+0x12c/0x1c8 net/socket.c:2657 __invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:35 [inline] invoke_syscall+0x90/0x278 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:49 el0_svc_common+0x13c/0x250 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:132 do_el0_svc+0x54/0x70 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:151 el0_svc+0x4c/0xa8 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:744 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x78/0x108 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:762 el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x1a0 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:600 Allocated by task 13247: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:47 [inline] kasan_save_track+0x30/0x68 mm/kasan/common.c:68 kasan_save_alloc_info+0x44/0x58 mm/kasan/generic.c:568 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:377 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0x84/0xa0 mm/kasan/common.c:394 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:260 [inline] __do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:4298 [inline] __kmalloc_node_noprof+0x2a0/0x560 mm/slub.c:4304 __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x9c/0x230 mm/util.c:645 alloc_netdev_mqs+0xb8/0x11a0 net/core/dev.c:11470 rtnl_create_link+0x2b8/0xb50 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3604 rtnl_newlink_create+0x19c/0x868 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3780 __rtnl_newlink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3906 [inline] rtnl_newlink+0x1054/0x1630 net/core/rtnetlink.c:4021 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x61c/0x918 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6911 netlink_rcv_skb+0x1dc/0x398 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2543 rtnetlink_rcv+0x34/0x50 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6938 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_n ---truncated---

References

NVD — CVE-2025-21858 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21858
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ss... WEB
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-265688.html
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ss... WEB
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-784472.html
git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ce92ca990... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ce92ca990cfac88a87c61df3cc0b5880e688ecf
git.kernel.org/stable/c/5a0538ac68... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5a0538ac6826807d6919f6aecbb8996c2865af2c
git.kernel.org/stable/c/788dbca056... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/788dbca056a8783ec063da3c9d49a3a71c76c283
git.kernel.org/stable/c/904e746b2e... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/904e746b2e7fa952ab8801b303ce826a63153d78
git.kernel.org/stable/c/9593172d93... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9593172d93b9f91c362baec4643003dc29802929
git.kernel.org/stable/c/d5e86e27de... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d5e86e27de0936f3cb0a299ce519d993e9cf3886
git.kernel.org/stable/c/da9b0ae47f... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/da9b0ae47f084014b1e4b3f31f70a0defd047ff3
git.kernel.org/stable/c/f74f656014... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f74f6560146714241c6e167b03165ee77a86e316
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00030.html
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00045.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-21858?
CVE-2025-21858 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-2025-21858?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-21858?
CVE-2025-21858 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-2025-21858?
CVE-2025-21858 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-2025-21858?
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-r9xq-fh23-wm6f",
  "modified" : "2026-10-15T03:34:41Z",
  "published" : "2025-03-12T12:30:59Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-21858" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\ngeneve: Fix use-after-free in geneve_find_dev().\n\nsyzkaller reported a use-after-free in geneve_find_dev() [0]\nwithout repro.\n\ngeneve_configure() links struct geneve_dev.next to\nnet_generic(net, geneve_net_id)->geneve_list.\n\nThe net here could differ from dev_net(dev) if IFLA_NET_NS_PID,\nIFLA_NET_NS_FD, or IFLA_TARGET_NETNSID is set.\n\nWhen dev_net(dev) is dismantled, geneve_exit_batch_rtnl() finally\ncalls unregister_netdevice_queue() for each dev in the netns,\nand later the dev is freed.\n\nHowever, its geneve_dev.next is still linked to the backend UDP\nsocket netns.\n\nThen, use-after-free will occur when another geneve dev is created\nin the netns.\n\nLet's call geneve_dellink() instead in geneve_destroy_tunnels().\n\n[0]:\nBUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in geneve_find_dev drivers/net/geneve.c:1295 [inline]\nBUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in geneve_configure+0x234/0x858 drivers/net/geneve.c:1343\nRead of size 2 at addr ffff000054d6ee24 by task syz.1.4029/13441\n\nCPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 13441 Comm: syz.1.4029 Not tainted 6.13.0-g0ad9617c78ac #24 dc35ca22c79fb82e8e7bc5c9c9adafea898b1e3d\nHardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT)\nCall trace:\n show_stack+0x38/0x50 arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c:466 (C)\n __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline]\n dump_stack_lvl+0xbc/0x108 lib/dump_stack.c:120\n print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline]\n print_report+0x16c/0x6f0 mm/kasan/report.c:489\n kasan_report+0xc0/0x120 mm/kasan/report.c:602\n __asan_report_load2_noabort+0x20/0x30 mm/kasan/report_generic.c:379\n geneve_find_dev drivers/net/geneve.c:1295 [inline]\n geneve_configure+0x234/0x858 drivers/net/geneve.c:1343\n geneve_newlink+0xb8/0x128 drivers/net/geneve.c:1634\n rtnl_newlink_create+0x23c/0x868 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3795\n __rtnl_newlink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3906 [inline]\n rtnl_newlink+0x1054/0x1630 net/core/rtnetlink.c:4021\n rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x61c/0x918 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6911\n netlink_rcv_skb+0x1dc/0x398 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2543\n rtnetlink_rcv+0x34/0x50 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6938\n netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1322 [inline]\n netlink_unicast+0x618/0x838 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1348\n netlink_sendmsg+0x5fc/0x8b0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1892\n sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:713 [inline]\n __sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:728 [inline]\n ____sys_sendmsg+0x410/0x6f8 net/socket.c:2568\n ___sys_sendmsg+0x178/0x1d8 net/socket.c:2622\n __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2654 [inline]\n __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2659 [inline]\n __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2657 [inline]\n __arm64_sys_sendmsg+0x12c/0x1c8 net/socket.c:2657\n __invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:35 [inline]\n invoke_syscall+0x90/0x278 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:49\n el0_svc_common+0x13c/0x250 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:132\n do_el0_svc+0x54/0x70 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:151\n el0_svc+0x4c/0xa8 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:744\n el0t_64_sync_handler+0x78/0x108 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:762\n el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x1a0 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:600\n\nAllocated by task 13247:\n kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:47 [inline]\n kasan_save_track+0x30/0x68 mm/kasan/common.c:68\n kasan_save_alloc_info+0x44/0x58 mm/kasan/generic.c:568\n poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:377 [inline]\n __kasan_kmalloc+0x84/0xa0 mm/kasan/common.c:394\n kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:260 [inline]\n __do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:4298 [inline]\n __kmalloc_node_noprof+0x2a0/0x560 mm/slub.c:4304\n __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x9c/0x230 mm/util.c:645\n alloc_netdev_mqs+0xb8/0x11a0 net/core/dev.c:11470\n rtnl_create_link+0x2b8/0xb50 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3604\n rtnl_newlink_create+0x19c/0x868 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3780\n __rtnl_newlink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3906 [inline]\n rtnl_newlink+0x1054/0x1630 net/core/rtnetlink.c:4021\n rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x61c/0x918 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6911\n netlink_rcv_skb+0x1dc/0x398 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2543\n rtnetlink_rcv+0x34/0x50 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6938\n netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_n\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-2025-21858"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-265688.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-784472.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ce92ca990cfac88a87c61df3cc0b5880e688ecf"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5a0538ac6826807d6919f6aecbb8996c2865af2c"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/788dbca056a8783ec063da3c9d49a3a71c76c283"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/904e746b2e7fa952ab8801b303ce826a63153d78"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9593172d93b9f91c362baec4643003dc29802929"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d5e86e27de0936f3cb0a299ce519d993e9cf3886"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/da9b0ae47f084014b1e4b3f31f70a0defd047ff3"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f74f6560146714241c6e167b03165ee77a86e316"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00030.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00045.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-416" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-03-12T10:15:18Z"
  }
}