CVE-2025-21868: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-3w57-3p47-w8ch
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CVSS 5.5
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-21868 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2025-21868 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-21868
GHSA Identifier GHSA-3w57-3p47-w8ch
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.5
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
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-2025-21868

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-2025-21868, 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: net: allow small head cache usage with large MAX_SKB_FRAGS values Sabrina reported the following splat: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 1 at net/core/dev.c:6935 netif_napi_add_weight_locked+0x8f2/0xba0 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc1-net-00092-g011b03359038 #996 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS Arch Linux 1.16.3-1-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:netif_napi_add_weight_locked+0x8f2/0xba0 Code: e8 c3 e6 6a fe 48 83 c4 28 5b 5d 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f c3 cc cc cc cc c7 44 24 10 ff ff ff ff e9 8f fb ff ff e8 9e e6 6a fe <0f> 0b e9 d3 fe ff ff e8 92 e6 6a fe 48 8b 04 24 be ff ff ff ff 48 RSP: 0000:ffffc9000001fc60 EFLAGS: 00010293 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff88806ce48128 RCX: 1ffff11001664b9e RDX: ffff888008f00040 RSI: ffffffff8317ca42 RDI: ffff88800b325cb6 RBP: ffff88800b325c40 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed100167502c R10: ffff88800b3a8163 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff88800ac1c168 R13: ffff88800ac1c168 R14: ffff88800ac1c168 R15: 0000000000000007 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88806ce00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: ffff888008201000 CR3: 0000000004c94001 CR4: 0000000000370ef0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> gro_cells_init+0x1ba/0x270 xfrm_input_init+0x4b/0x2a0 xfrm_init+0x38/0x50 ip_rt_init+0x2d7/0x350 ip_init+0xf/0x20 inet_init+0x406/0x590 do_one_initcall+0x9d/0x2e0 do_initcalls+0x23b/0x280 kernel_init_freeable+0x445/0x490 kernel_init+0x20/0x1d0 ret_from_fork+0x46/0x80 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 </TASK> irq event stamp: 584330 hardirqs last enabled at (584338): [<ffffffff8168bf87>] __up_console_sem+0x77/0xb0 hardirqs last disabled at (584345): [<ffffffff8168bf6c>] __up_console_sem+0x5c/0xb0 softirqs last enabled at (583242): [<ffffffff833ee96d>] netlink_insert+0x14d/0x470 softirqs last disabled at (583754): [<ffffffff8317c8cd>] netif_napi_add_weight_locked+0x77d/0xba0 on kernel built with MAX_SKB_FRAGS=45, where SKB_WITH_OVERHEAD(1024) is smaller than GRO_MAX_HEAD. Such built additionally contains the revert of the single page frag cache so that napi_get_frags() ends up using the page frag allocator, triggering the splat. Note that the underlying issue is independent from the mentioned revert; address it ensuring that the small head cache will fit either TCP and GRO allocation and updating napi_alloc_skb() and __netdev_alloc_skb() to select kmalloc() usage for any allocation fitting such cache.

References

NVD — CVE-2025-21868 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21868
git.kernel.org/stable/c/14ad6ed30a... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/14ad6ed30a10afbe91b0749d6378285f4225d482
git.kernel.org/stable/c/648e440c98... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/648e440c98e260dec835e48a5d7a9993477b1f9d
git.kernel.org/stable/c/ed0ca7d212... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ed0ca7d2127c63991cfaf1932b827e3f4f8ee480
git.kernel.org/stable/c/ed8a77fee4... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ed8a77fee4618facd2a539cad7b7366697b5a575

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-21868?
CVE-2025-21868 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-2025-21868?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-21868?
CVE-2025-21868 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-2025-21868?
CVE-2025-21868 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2025-21868?
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-3w57-3p47-w8ch",
  "modified" : "2025-11-24T12:30:27Z",
  "published" : "2025-03-27T15:31:08Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-21868" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: allow small head cache usage with large MAX_SKB_FRAGS values\n\nSabrina reported the following splat:\n\n    WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 1 at net/core/dev.c:6935 netif_napi_add_weight_locked+0x8f2/0xba0\n    Modules linked in:\n    CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc1-net-00092-g011b03359038 #996\n    Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS Arch Linux 1.16.3-1-1 04/01/2014\n    RIP: 0010:netif_napi_add_weight_locked+0x8f2/0xba0\n    Code: e8 c3 e6 6a fe 48 83 c4 28 5b 5d 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f c3 cc cc cc cc c7 44 24 10 ff ff ff ff e9 8f fb ff ff e8 9e e6 6a fe <0f> 0b e9 d3 fe ff ff e8 92 e6 6a fe 48 8b 04 24 be ff ff ff ff 48\n    RSP: 0000:ffffc9000001fc60 EFLAGS: 00010293\n    RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff88806ce48128 RCX: 1ffff11001664b9e\n    RDX: ffff888008f00040 RSI: ffffffff8317ca42 RDI: ffff88800b325cb6\n    RBP: ffff88800b325c40 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed100167502c\n    R10: ffff88800b3a8163 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff88800ac1c168\n    R13: ffff88800ac1c168 R14: ffff88800ac1c168 R15: 0000000000000007\n    FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88806ce00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000\n    CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033\n    CR2: ffff888008201000 CR3: 0000000004c94001 CR4: 0000000000370ef0\n    DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000\n    DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400\n    Call Trace:\n    <TASK>\n    gro_cells_init+0x1ba/0x270\n    xfrm_input_init+0x4b/0x2a0\n    xfrm_init+0x38/0x50\n    ip_rt_init+0x2d7/0x350\n    ip_init+0xf/0x20\n    inet_init+0x406/0x590\n    do_one_initcall+0x9d/0x2e0\n    do_initcalls+0x23b/0x280\n    kernel_init_freeable+0x445/0x490\n    kernel_init+0x20/0x1d0\n    ret_from_fork+0x46/0x80\n    ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30\n    </TASK>\n    irq event stamp: 584330\n    hardirqs last  enabled at (584338): [<ffffffff8168bf87>] __up_console_sem+0x77/0xb0\n    hardirqs last disabled at (584345): [<ffffffff8168bf6c>] __up_console_sem+0x5c/0xb0\n    softirqs last  enabled at (583242): [<ffffffff833ee96d>] netlink_insert+0x14d/0x470\n    softirqs last disabled at (583754): [<ffffffff8317c8cd>] netif_napi_add_weight_locked+0x77d/0xba0\n\non kernel built with MAX_SKB_FRAGS=45, where SKB_WITH_OVERHEAD(1024)\nis smaller than GRO_MAX_HEAD.\n\nSuch built additionally contains the revert of the single page frag cache\nso that napi_get_frags() ends up using the page frag allocator, triggering\nthe splat.\n\nNote that the underlying issue is independent from the mentioned\nrevert; address it ensuring that the small head cache will fit either TCP\nand GRO allocation and updating napi_alloc_skb() and __netdev_alloc_skb()\nto select kmalloc() usage for any allocation fitting such cache.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21868"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/14ad6ed30a10afbe91b0749d6378285f4225d482"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/648e440c98e260dec835e48a5d7a9993477b1f9d"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ed0ca7d2127c63991cfaf1932b827e3f4f8ee480"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ed8a77fee4618facd2a539cad7b7366697b5a575"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-03-27T14:15:47Z"
  }
}