CVE-2026-72137: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-w74p-mj9r-98xw
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CVSS 9.8
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-72137 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) security vulnerability vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-72137 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-72137
GHSA Identifier GHSA-w74p-mj9r-98xw
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
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-2026-72137

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-2026-72137, 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: xfrm: nat_keepalive: avoid double free on send error nat_keepalive_send() frees the keepalive skb whenever the IPv4 or IPv6 send helper reports an error. That cleanup is only correct before the skb is handed to the output path. Once ip_build_and_send_pkt() or ip6_xmit() takes ownership, the networking stack may already have consumed the skb before returning an error, so freeing it again is unsafe. Handle the pre-handoff failure cases inside nat_keepalive_send_ipv4() and nat_keepalive_send_ipv6(), where the caller still owns the skb, and keep nat_keepalive_send() responsible only for family dispatch and the unsupported-family cleanup path.

References

NVD — CVE-2026-72137 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72137
git.kernel.org/stable/c/226f4a490d... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/226f4a490d1a938fc838d8f8c46a4eca864c0d78
git.kernel.org/stable/c/5b0c4c916f... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5b0c4c916f202b8fd13d12afb6af62b385622f81
git.kernel.org/stable/c/a8a7e6a9ff... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a8a7e6a9ff8a4c1f067694ddbd44be67fdf36693
git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0a4dc7efa... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0a4dc7efa825bce60a8da8f7d43c864a159abde

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-72137?
CVE-2026-72137 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-2026-72137?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-72137?
CVE-2026-72137 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-72137?
CVE-2026-72137 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-72137?
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-w74p-mj9r-98xw",
  "modified" : "2026-08-17T06:33:12Z",
  "published" : "2026-08-15T06:32:13Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-72137" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nxfrm: nat_keepalive: avoid double free on send error\n\nnat_keepalive_send() frees the keepalive skb whenever the IPv4 or IPv6\nsend helper reports an error.\n\nThat cleanup is only correct before the skb is handed to the output\npath. Once ip_build_and_send_pkt() or ip6_xmit() takes ownership, the\nnetworking stack may already have consumed the skb before returning an\nerror, so freeing it again is unsafe.\n\nHandle the pre-handoff failure cases inside nat_keepalive_send_ipv4()\nand nat_keepalive_send_ipv6(), where the caller still owns the skb, and\nkeep nat_keepalive_send() responsible only for family dispatch and the\nunsupported-family cleanup path.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72137"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/226f4a490d1a938fc838d8f8c46a4eca864c0d78"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5b0c4c916f202b8fd13d12afb6af62b385622f81"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a8a7e6a9ff8a4c1f067694ddbd44be67fdf36693"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0a4dc7efa825bce60a8da8f7d43c864a159abde"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-08-15T06:21:31Z"
  }
}