GHSA-xjw8-8c5c-9r79 — thymeleaf
CRITICALGHSA-xjw8-8c5c-9r79 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9) Expression Language Injection vulnerability in org.thymeleaf:thymeleaf. A fix is available for org.thymeleaf:thymeleaf — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Improper neutralization of specific syntax patterns for unauthorized expressions in Thymeleaf
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- 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-xjw8-8c5c-9r79.
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
GHSA-xjw8-8c5c-9r79 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 378,567 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.thymeleaf:thymeleaf☕org.thymeleaf:thymeleaf-spring5☕org.thymeleaf:thymeleaf-spring6Real-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
Impact
A security bypass vulnerability exists in the expression execution mechanisms of Thymeleaf up to and including 3.1.3.RELEASE. Although the library provides mechanisms to prevent expression injection, it fails to properly neutralize specific syntax patterns that allow for the execution of unauthorized expressions. If an application developer passes unvalidated user input directly to the template engine, an unauthenticated remote attacker can bypass the library's protections to achieve Server-Side Template Injection (SSTI).
Patches
This has been fixed in Thymeleaf 3.1.4.RELEASE.
Workarounds
No workaround is available beyond ensuring applications do not pass unvalidated user input directly to the template engine. Upgrading to 3.1.4.RELEASE is strongly recommended in any case.
Credits
Thanks to Dawid Bakaj (VIPentest.com) for responsible disclosure.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.thymeleaf:thymeleaf | all versions | 3.1.4.RELEASEorg.thymeleaf:thymeleaf:3.1.4.RELEASE |
| ☕Maven | org.thymeleaf:thymeleaf-spring5 | all versions | 3.1.4.RELEASEorg.thymeleaf:thymeleaf-spring5:3.1.4.RELEASE |
| ☕Maven | org.thymeleaf:thymeleaf-spring6 | all versions | 3.1.4.RELEASEorg.thymeleaf:thymeleaf-spring6:3.1.4.RELEASE |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.thymeleaf:thymeleaf, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.thymeleaf:thymeleaf to 3.1.4.RELEASE or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-xjw8-8c5c-9r79 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 GHSA-xjw8-8c5c-9r79 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-xjw8-8c5c-9r79. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
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 OpenShift Dev Spaces 3.28 | devspaces/openvsx-rhel9:1779528224 | RHSA-2026:21772 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-xjw8-8c5c-9r79 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-xjw8-8c5c-9r79 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.