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🛡️ CVE-2023-20861 — spring-framework

🟡 CVSS 6.5 — Medium ✅ No Known Exploit CWE-400 NVD
6.5
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

Spring Framework vulnerable to denial of service via specially crafted SpEL expression

In Spring Framework versions 6.0.0 - 6.0.6, 5.3.0 - 5.3.25, 5.2.0.RELEASE - 5.2.22.RELEASE, and older unsupported versions, it is possible for a user to provide a specially crafted SpEL expression that may cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability high.

CVSS metrics in full

The score comes from this vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

  • Attack vector: Network — reachable from anywhere that can route to the service.
  • Attack complexity: Low — the attack works reliably, with no preparation.
  • Privileges required: Low — an ordinary user account is enough.
  • User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
  • Scope: Unchanged — the damage stays inside the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: None.
  • Integrity impact: None.
  • Availability impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.

Weakness class

CVE-2023-20861 is classified as CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption. A request can consume memory, CPU or storage without limit, exhausting capacity for everyone else.

Affected software

CVE-2023-20861 is recorded against 2 packages.

  • org.springframework:spring-expression (fixed in 5.2.23.RELEASE)
  • spring-framework (from 6.0.0 up to 6.0.6)

Timeline and source

Published on 23 March 2023 and last revised on 25 February 2025. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from NVD.

References

nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Package)
security.netapp.com (Web)
spring.io (Web)

Other advisories for this package

org.springframework:spring-expression has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

Same weakness in other software

These advisories are the same class of weakness (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) in other software:

CVE-2023-20861 on other distributions

Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:

Details

Severity Medium
CVSS Score 6.5
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE CWE-400
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2023-03-23
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2025-02-25
Fix URL N/A

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
org.springframework:spring-expression — 5.2.23.RELEASE
spring-framework 6.0.0 6.0.6

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ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.

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