CVE-2024-38808: Spring Expression DoS Vulnerability

MEDIUM | AUGUST 14, 2024 | CVE-2024-38808

Description

In Spring Framework versions 5.3.0 - 5.3.38 and older unsupported versions, it is possible for a user to provide a specially crafted Spring Expression Language (SpEL) expression that may cause a denial of service (DoS) condition.

Specifically, an application is vulnerable when the following is true:

  • The application evaluates user-supplied SpEL expressions.

Affected Spring Products and Versions

  • Spring Framework
    • 5.3.0 to 5.3.38
    • Older, unsupported versions are also affected

Mitigation

Users of affected versions should upgrade to the corresponding fixed version.

Affected version(s) Fix version Availability
5.3.x 5.3.39 OSS

Users of affected versions should apply the following mitigation: 5.3.x users should upgrade to 5.3.39+ or 6.0+. Evaluation of user-supplied SpEL expressions should be avoided when possible; otherwise, user-supplied SpEL expressions should be evaluated with a SimpleEvaluationContext in read-only mode. No other steps are necessary.

Releases that have fixed this issue include:

  • Spring Framework
    • 5.3.39+
    • 6.0+

Credit

This issue was identified and responsibly reported by popko.

References

History

  • 2024-08-14: Initial vulnerability report published.

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