CVE-2025-21999: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-vmv5-h8c6-426p
CVSS 7.8
CWE-416
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-21999 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 any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer..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-2025-21999 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-21999
GHSA Identifier GHSA-vmv5-h8c6-426p
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-2025-21999

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-2025-21999, 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: proc: fix UAF in proc_get_inode() Fix race between rmmod and /proc/XXX's inode instantiation. The bug is that pde->proc_ops don't belong to /proc, it belongs to a module, therefore dereferencing it after /proc entry has been registered is a bug unless use_pde/unuse_pde() pair has been used. use_pde/unuse_pde can be avoided (2 atomic ops!) because pde->proc_ops never changes so information necessary for inode instantiation can be saved _before_ proc_register() in PDE itself and used later, avoiding pde->proc_ops->... dereference. rmmod lookup sys_delete_module proc_lookup_de pde_get(de); proc_get_inode(dir->i_sb, de); mod->exit() proc_remove remove_proc_subtree proc_entry_rundown(de); free_module(mod); if (S_ISREG(inode->i_mode)) if (de->proc_ops->proc_read_iter) --> As module is already freed, will trigger UAF BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: fffffbfff80a702b PGD 817fc4067 P4D 817fc4067 PUD 817fc0067 PMD 102ef4067 PTE 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN PTI CPU: 26 UID: 0 PID: 2667 Comm: ls Tainted: G Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996) RIP: 0010:proc_get_inode+0x302/0x6e0 RSP: 0018:ffff88811c837998 EFLAGS: 00010a06 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: ffffffffc0538140 RCX: 0000000000000007 RDX: 1ffffffff80a702b RSI: 0000000000000001 RDI: ffffffffc0538158 RBP: ffff8881299a6000 R08: 0000000067bbe1e5 R09: 1ffff11023906f20 R10: ffffffffb560ca07 R11: ffffffffb2b43a58 R12: ffff888105bb78f0 R13: ffff888100518048 R14: ffff8881299a6004 R15: 0000000000000001 FS: 00007f95b9686840(0000) GS:ffff8883af100000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: fffffbfff80a702b CR3: 0000000117dd2000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> proc_lookup_de+0x11f/0x2e0 __lookup_slow+0x188/0x350 walk_component+0x2ab/0x4f0 path_lookupat+0x120/0x660 filename_lookup+0x1ce/0x560 vfs_statx+0xac/0x150 __do_sys_newstat+0x96/0x110 do_syscall_64+0x5f/0x170 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e [adobriyan@gmail.com: don't do 2 atomic ops on the common path]

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-21999?
CVE-2025-21999 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-2025-21999?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-21999?
CVE-2025-21999 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-2025-21999?
CVE-2025-21999 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-2025-21999?
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-vmv5-h8c6-426p",
  "modified" : "2026-10-15T03:34:45Z",
  "published" : "2025-04-03T09:32:15Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-21999" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nproc: fix UAF in proc_get_inode()\n\nFix race between rmmod and /proc/XXX's inode instantiation.\n\nThe bug is that pde->proc_ops don't belong to /proc, it belongs to a\nmodule, therefore dereferencing it after /proc entry has been registered\nis a bug unless use_pde/unuse_pde() pair has been used.\n\nuse_pde/unuse_pde can be avoided (2 atomic ops!) because pde->proc_ops\nnever changes so information necessary for inode instantiation can be\nsaved _before_ proc_register() in PDE itself and used later, avoiding\npde->proc_ops->...  dereference.\n\n      rmmod                         lookup\nsys_delete_module\n                         proc_lookup_de\n\t\t\t   pde_get(de);\n\t\t\t   proc_get_inode(dir->i_sb, de);\n  mod->exit()\n    proc_remove\n      remove_proc_subtree\n       proc_entry_rundown(de);\n  free_module(mod);\n\n                               if (S_ISREG(inode->i_mode))\n\t                         if (de->proc_ops->proc_read_iter)\n                           --> As module is already freed, will trigger UAF\n\nBUG: unable to handle page fault for address: fffffbfff80a702b\nPGD 817fc4067 P4D 817fc4067 PUD 817fc0067 PMD 102ef4067 PTE 0\nOops: Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN PTI\nCPU: 26 UID: 0 PID: 2667 Comm: ls Tainted: G\nHardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996)\nRIP: 0010:proc_get_inode+0x302/0x6e0\nRSP: 0018:ffff88811c837998 EFLAGS: 00010a06\nRAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: ffffffffc0538140 RCX: 0000000000000007\nRDX: 1ffffffff80a702b RSI: 0000000000000001 RDI: ffffffffc0538158\nRBP: ffff8881299a6000 R08: 0000000067bbe1e5 R09: 1ffff11023906f20\nR10: ffffffffb560ca07 R11: ffffffffb2b43a58 R12: ffff888105bb78f0\nR13: ffff888100518048 R14: ffff8881299a6004 R15: 0000000000000001\nFS:  00007f95b9686840(0000) GS:ffff8883af100000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000\nCS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033\nCR2: fffffbfff80a702b CR3: 0000000117dd2000 CR4: 00000000000006f0\nDR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000\nDR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400\nCall Trace:\n <TASK>\n proc_lookup_de+0x11f/0x2e0\n __lookup_slow+0x188/0x350\n walk_component+0x2ab/0x4f0\n path_lookupat+0x120/0x660\n filename_lookup+0x1ce/0x560\n vfs_statx+0xac/0x150\n __do_sys_newstat+0x96/0x110\n do_syscall_64+0x5f/0x170\n entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e\n\n[adobriyan@gmail.com: don't do 2 atomic ops on the common path]",
  "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-2025-21999"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-019113.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-457936.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4b0b8445b6fd41e6f62ac90547a0ea9d348de3fa"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/63b53198aff2e4e6c5866a4ff73c7891f958ffa4"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64dc7c68e040251d9ec6e989acb69f8f6ae4a10b"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/654b33ada4ab5e926cd9c570196fefa7bec7c1df"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/966f331403dc3ed04ff64eaf3930cf1267965e53"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eda279586e571b05dff44d48e05f8977ad05855d"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ede3e8ac90ae106f0b29cd759aadebc1568f1308"
  }, {
    "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" : "2025-04-03T08:15:15Z"
  }
}