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Critical Directory Traversal and Secret Exposure Flaws in Spring Cloud Config Server

Updated 2mo agoFirst seen May 6, 20264 sources

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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Critical Directory Traversal and Secret Exposure Flaws in Spring Cloud Config Server
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EVENT TIMELINE

How this story unfolded

5 events from the most recent confirmed update back to the earliest known activity.

5 EVENTS
May 8, 20262mo ago

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.

May 7, 20262mo ago

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.

May 6, 20262mo ago

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.

LINKED ENTITIES

Related entities

Vulnerabilities, threat actors, malware, products, organizations, and breaches Mallory has linked to this story.

5 LINKEDOpen in app
Affected products
1 linked
Spring Cloud Config
Organizations
3 linked
BroadcomDeutsche Telekom Security GmbHAxiomCode
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