CVE-2026-22738 | SpEL Injection via Unescaped Filter Key in SimpleVectorStore Leads to Remote Code Execution

In Spring AI, a SpEL injection vulnerability exists in SimpleVectorStore when a user-supplied value is used as a filter expression key. A malicious actor could exploit this to execute arbitrary code. Only applications that use SimpleVectorStore and pass user-supplied input as a filter expression key are affected. This issue affects Spring AI: from 1.0.0 before 1.0.5, from 1.1.0 before 1.1.4.

Published: 2026-03-27 Last update: 2026-05-10 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-22738 is rated Moderate Risk (44.9/100): CVSS Critical severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.05%). 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-2026-22738

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 2026-04-28 0.04% 0.05% +0.01%
2 2026-04-21 0.07% 0.04% -0.03%
3 2026-03-27 — 0.07% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-22738

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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: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:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-22738

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-22738

GHSA-fvh3-672c-7p6c · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: maven — Spring AI: SpEL injection is triggered when a user-supplied value is used as a filter expression key

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-22738

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vmware spring_ai >= 1.0.0, < 1.0.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_ai:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware spring_ai >= 1.1.0, < 1.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_ai:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-22738

cvelogic Threat Intelligence