Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in Spring FrameworkGHSA-558x-2xjg-6232
MEDIUMFix: spring-projects/spring-framework@83ac659GHSA-558x-2xjg-6232 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) CWE-770 vulnerability in org.springframework:spring-expression. EPSS puts its 30-day exploitation probability at 36.9% (99th percentile). A fix is available for org.springframework:spring-expression — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- 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 GHSA-558x-2xjg-6232.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
org.springframework:spring-expression☕org.springframework:spring-expressionReal-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
In Spring Framework versions 5.3.0 - 5.3.16, 5.2.0.RELEASE - 5.2.19.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 condition.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.springframework:spring-expression | ≥ 5.3.0&&< 5.3.17 | 5.3.17org.springframework:spring-expression:5.3.17 |
| ☕Maven | org.springframework:spring-expression | all versions | 5.2.20.RELEASEorg.springframework:spring-expression:5.2.20.RELEASE |
Affected Products
spring frameworkvmwareDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.springframework:spring-expression, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.springframework:spring-expression to 5.3.17 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-558x-2xjg-6232 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Fuse 7.11 | spring-expression | RHSA-2022:5532 |
| Red Hat Virtualization Engine 4.4 | ovirt-dependencies-0:4.5.2-1.el8ev | RHSA-2022:5555 |
| RHPAM 7.13.0 async | spring-expression | RHSA-2022:5903 |
| Text-Only RHOAR | spring-expression | RHSA-2022:8761 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-558x-2xjg-6232 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.