Critical Directory Traversal and Secret Exposure Flaws in Spring Cloud Config Server
VMware Tanzu Spring Cloud Config Server is affected by multiple newly disclosed vulnerabilities, led by CVE-2026-40982, a critical CWE-22 directory traversal flaw that lets unauthenticated attackers use crafted URLs to read arbitrary text and binary files from the host running spring-cloud-config-server. Public reporting says the issue affects release lines 3.1.x, 4.1.x, 4.2.x, 4.3.x, and 5.0.x, with the most severe impact tied to unauthorized file access from network-reachable servers.
Additional flaws include CVE-2026-40981, which can expose Google Secrets Manager data from unintended GCP projects, CVE-2026-41002, a race condition involving the Git repository clone base directory, and CVE-2026-41004, which can leak sensitive information into plaintext logs when trace logging is enabled. Spring has released fixes including 4.3.3 and 5.0.3 for open-source users, while enterprise support customers were directed to 3.1.14, 4.1.10, and 4.2.7; a temporary mitigation for the GCP secret exposure issue is to require token validation before serving project secrets.

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How this story unfolded
5 events from the most recent confirmed update back to the earliest known activity.
Mitigation guidance published for GCP Secret Manager exposure flaw
For CVE-2026-40981, temporary mitigation guidance was published advising users to set spring.cloud.config.server.gcp-secret-manager.token-mandatory=true to require token validation before serving project secrets.
Spring releases fixes for four disclosed Spring Cloud Config flaws
Reporting on the disclosures identified four vulnerabilities—CVE-2026-40982, CVE-2026-40981, CVE-2026-41002, and CVE-2026-41004—and said patched versions were released, including 4.3.3 and 5.0.3 for open-source users and 3.1.14, 4.1.10, and 4.2.7 for enterprise support customers.
CVE record details CVE-2026-40982 and affected release lines
A CVE entry for CVE-2026-40982 documented the flaw as a CWE-22 directory traversal issue, noted it was received by security@vmware.com on May 7, 2026, and listed affected and fixed versions across several release branches.
dCERT issues advisory on multiple Spring Cloud Config vulnerabilities
dCERT published Advisory 2026-1379 covering multiple vulnerabilities affecting VMware Tanzu Spring Cloud Config.
Spring discloses CVE-2026-40982 in Spring Cloud Config Server
Spring published a security advisory for CVE-2026-40982, a directory traversal vulnerability in spring-cloud-config-server that can allow access to arbitrary files via crafted URLs.
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Sources
4 references tracked. Mallory keeps watching after this page renders.
Critical Spring Vulnerabilities Expose Arbitrary Files and GCP Secrets
cybersecuritynews.com
Open sourceCVE-2026-40982 - Spring Cloud Config Directory Traversal Vulnerability
cvefeed.io
Open sourcedCERT - Advisory 2026-1379 - VMware Tanzu Spring Cloud Config: Multiple Vulnerabilities
dcert.de
Open sourceCVE-2026-40982: Directory Traversal with spring-cloud-config-server
spring.io
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