CVE-2023-20861

In Spring Framework versions 6.0.0 - 6.0.6, 5.3.0 - 5.3.25, 5.2.0.RELEASE - 5.2.22.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 (DoS) condition.

Published: 2023-03-23 Last update: 2025-02-25 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published

View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

Threat Intelligence & Risk Assessment for CVE-2023-20861

EPSS CVSS CWE GHSA Affected OS Tracker

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-20861 is rated Moderate Risk (46.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.97%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-20861

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	0.54%	0.97%	+0.43%
2	2026-05-13	0.36%	0.54%	+0.18%
3	2026-01-17	—	0.36%	—

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-20861

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
6.5	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H` 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:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. 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:N) Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way. Integrity (I:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	2.8	3.6	[email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-20861

CWE-400 MITRE ↗

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-20861

GHSA-564r-hj7v-mcr5 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: maven — Spring Framework vulnerable to denial of service via specially crafted SpEL expression

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-20861

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	unimportant	CVE-2023-20861 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libspring-java), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-20861
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-20861
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2023-20861 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libspring-java), 13 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 8, ignored 5.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-20861

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-20861

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
vmware	spring_framework	<= 5.2.22	cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_framework::::::::
vmware	spring_framework	>= 5.3.0, <= 5.3.25	cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_framework::::::::
vmware	spring_framework	>= 6.0.0, <= 6.0.6	cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_framework::::::::

References for CVE-2023-20861

URL	Tags
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230420-0007/
https://spring.io/security/cve-2023-20861	Vendor Advisory

cvelogic Threat Intelligence