CVE-2025-38539: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-jgp9-rwc2-m645
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CVSS 5.5
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-38539 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-2025-38539 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-38539
GHSA Identifier GHSA-jgp9-rwc2-m645
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-2025-38539

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-2025-38539, 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: tracing: Add down_write(trace_event_sem) when adding trace event When a module is loaded, it adds trace events defined by the module. It may also need to modify the modules trace printk formats to replace enum names with their values. If two modules are loaded at the same time, the adding of the event to the ftrace_events list can corrupt the walking of the list in the code that is modifying the printk format strings and crash the kernel. The addition of the event should take the trace_event_sem for write while it adds the new event. Also add a lockdep_assert_held() on that semaphore in __trace_add_event_dirs() as it iterates the list.

References

NVD — CVE-2025-38539 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38539
git.kernel.org/stable/c/33e20747b4... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/33e20747b47ddc03569b6bc27a2d6894c1428182
git.kernel.org/stable/c/6bc94f20a4... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6bc94f20a4c304997288f9a45278c9d0c06987d3
git.kernel.org/stable/c/70fecd519c... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/70fecd519caad0c1741c3379d5348c9000a5b29d
git.kernel.org/stable/c/7803b28c9a... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7803b28c9aa8d8bd4e19ebcf5f0db9612b0f333b
git.kernel.org/stable/c/b5e8acc14d... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b5e8acc14dcb314a9b61ff19dcd9fdd0d88f70df
git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca60064ea0... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca60064ea03f14e06c763de018403cb56ba3207d
git.kernel.org/stable/c/db45632479... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db45632479ceecb669612ed8dbce927e3c6279fc
git.kernel.org/stable/c/e70f5ee4c8... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e70f5ee4c8824736332351b703c46f9469ed7f6c
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-38539?
CVE-2025-38539 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-2025-38539?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-38539?
CVE-2025-38539 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-2025-38539?
CVE-2025-38539 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2025-38539?
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-jgp9-rwc2-m645",
  "modified" : "2026-01-07T21:31:38Z",
  "published" : "2025-08-16T12:30:33Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-38539" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\ntracing: Add down_write(trace_event_sem) when adding trace event\n\nWhen a module is loaded, it adds trace events defined by the module. It\nmay also need to modify the modules trace printk formats to replace enum\nnames with their values.\n\nIf two modules are loaded at the same time, the adding of the event to the\nftrace_events list can corrupt the walking of the list in the code that is\nmodifying the printk format strings and crash the kernel.\n\nThe addition of the event should take the trace_event_sem for write while\nit adds the new event.\n\nAlso add a lockdep_assert_held() on that semaphore in\n__trace_add_event_dirs() as it iterates the list.",
  "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-2025-38539"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/33e20747b47ddc03569b6bc27a2d6894c1428182"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6bc94f20a4c304997288f9a45278c9d0c06987d3"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/70fecd519caad0c1741c3379d5348c9000a5b29d"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7803b28c9aa8d8bd4e19ebcf5f0db9612b0f333b"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b5e8acc14dcb314a9b61ff19dcd9fdd0d88f70df"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca60064ea03f14e06c763de018403cb56ba3207d"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db45632479ceecb669612ed8dbce927e3c6279fc"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e70f5ee4c8824736332351b703c46f9469ed7f6c"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-08-16T12:15:29Z"
  }
}