CVE-2020-5410 | Directory Traversal with spring-cloud-config-server

Exp

Spring Cloud Config, versions 2.2.x prior to 2.2.3, versions 2.1.x prior to 2.1.9, and older unsupported versions allow applications to serve arbitrary configuration files through the spring-cloud-config-server module. A malicious user, or attacker, can send a request using a specially crafted URL that can lead to a directory traversal attack.

Published: 2020-06-02 Last update: 2025-11-03 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-5410 is rated Critical Active Threat (91.2/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 95.59%, 100th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2022-03-25) affecting VMware Tanzu / Spring Cloud Configuration (Config) Server. a weakness (CWE-22) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. EPSS rose +1.24% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2020-5410

Name: VMware Tanzu Spring Cloud Config Directory Traversal Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2022-03-25

Action due: 2022-04-15

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-5410

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 94.35% 95.59% +1.24%
2 2026-05-29 94.36% 94.35% -0.01%
3 2026-03-18 — 94.36% —

Full EPSS history (23 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-5410

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-5410

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-5410

GHSA-32xf-jwmv-9hf3 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: maven — Directory traversal attack in Spring Cloud Config

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-5410

vendor priority summary link
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-5410

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-5410

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vmware spring_cloud_config >= 2.1.0, < 2.1.9 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_cloud_config:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware spring_cloud_config >= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_cloud_config:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-5410

cvelogic Threat Intelligence