Spring Cloud Function Code Injection with a specially crafted SpEL as a routing expressionGHSA-6v73-fgf6-w5j7
CRITICALGHSA-6v73-fgf6-w5j7 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Code Injection vulnerability in org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-function-context. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-08-25) — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. A fix is available for org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-function-context — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
Actively exploited in the wild
- Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-08-25. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2022-09-15.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for GHSA-6v73-fgf6-w5j7.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-6v73-fgf6-w5j7 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 394,803 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-function-context☕org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-function-contextReal-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 Cloud Function versions 3.1.6, 3.2.2 and older unsupported versions, when using routing functionality it is possible for a user to provide a specially crafted SpEL as a routing-expression that may result in remote code execution and access to local resources.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-function-context | ≥ 3.2.0&&< 3.2.3 | 3.2.3org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-function-context:3.2.3 |
| ☕Maven | org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-function-context | all versions | 3.1.7org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-function-context:3.1.7 |
Affected Products
banking branchoraclebanking cash managementoraclebanking corporate lending process managementoraclebanking credit facilities process managementoraclebanking electronic data exchange for corporatesoraclebanking liquidity managementoracleResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Spring Cloud 3.2.2 - Remote Command Execution (RCE)
by GatoGamer1155 · Jul 11, 2023
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-function-context, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-function-context to 3.2.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-6v73-fgf6-w5j7 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
How to detect GHSA-6v73-fgf6-w5j7
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id ghsa-6v73-fgf6-w5j7 -u https://target- Template
- Spring Cloud - Remote Code Execution
- Severity
- critical
- Impact
- Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected system.
- Remediation
- Apply the latest security patches provided by the Spring Cloud project to mitigate this vulnerability.
Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (Mr-xn, Adam Crosser), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.
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.
Affected customers should update immediately as soon as patched software is available. There are no other mitigations available at this time.Source: Red Hat security advisory for GHSA-6v73-fgf6-w5j7 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Openshift Serveless 1.21 | openshift-serverless-1/client-kn-rhel8:1.0.1-3 | RHSA-2022:1292 |
| Openshift Serverless 1 on RHEL 8 | openshift-serverless-clients-0:1.0.1-2.el8 | RHSA-2022:1291 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-6v73-fgf6-w5j7 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.