CVE-2026-40968 — spring-grpc
MEDIUMCVE-2026-40968 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.2) CWE-653 vulnerability in org.springframework.grpc:spring-grpc. A fix is available for org.springframework.grpc:spring-grpc — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Spring gRPC SecurityContext leaks across requests on authorization failure
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-40968.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2026-40968 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,166 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.springframework.grpc:spring-grpcReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
When an authenticated user is denied access to a gRPC method, their authenticated identity remains bound to the gRPC worker thread and can be inherited by a subsequent unauthenticated request on the same thread. This may allow the subsequent user to gain escalated permissions.
Affected versions: Spring gRPC: 1.0.0 - 1.0.2 (fixed in 1.0.3). Older, unsupported versions are also affected.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.springframework.grpc:spring-grpc | all versions | 1.0.3org.springframework.grpc:spring-grpc:1.0.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.springframework.grpc:spring-grpc, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.springframework.grpc:spring-grpc to 1.0.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-40968 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2026-40968 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2026-40968. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-40968 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2026-40968 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.