Vulnerability · Published May 7, 2026 · Assigned by vmware
CVE-2026-40981
High 7.5
In plain English
A high-severity authorization bypass via user-controlled key in Spring Cloud Config from Spring. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.4% (higher than 38% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
When using Google Secrets Manager as a backend for the Spring Cloud Config server a client can craft a request to the config server potentially exposing secrets from unintended GCP projects. Spring Cloud Config 3.1.x: affected from 3.1.0 through 3.1.13 (inclusive); upgrade to 3.1.14 or greater (Enterprise Support Only). Spring Cloud Config 4.1.x: affected from 4.1.0 through 4.1.9 (inclusive); upgrade to 4.1.10 or greater (Enterprise Support Only). Spring Cloud Config 4.2.x: affected from 4.2.0 through 4.2.6 (inclusive); upgrade to 4.2.7 or greater (Enterprise Support Only). Spring Cloud Config 4.3.x: affected from 4.3.0 through 4.3.2 (inclusive); upgrade to 4.3.3 or greater. Spring Cloud Config 5.0.x: affected from 5.0.0 through 5.0.2 (inclusive); upgrade to 5.0.3 or greater.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maven | org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-config-server | no fix listed | GHSA-2mh5-3cw6-hrrq |
| Maven | org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-config-server | no fix listed | GHSA-2mh5-3cw6-hrrq |
| Maven | org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-config-server | no fix listed | GHSA-2mh5-3cw6-hrrq |
| Maven | org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-config-server | 4.3.3 | GHSA-2mh5-3cw6-hrrq |
| Maven | org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-config-server | 5.0.3 | GHSA-2mh5-3cw6-hrrq |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | Spring Cloud Config | 3.1.0 – before 3.1.144.1.0 – before 4.1.104.2.0 – before 4.2.74.3.0 – before 4.3.35.0.0 – before 5.0.3 |
Weakness: CWE-639, CWE-1220 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
References
- https://spring.io/security/cve-2026-40981
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-40981 vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2467621 issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-40981.json x_sadp-csaf-vex