XML External Entity Vulnerability in Spring Web Services from Pivotal Software
CVE-2026-40998

8.2HIGH

Key Information:

Vendor

Spring

Status
Spring Web Services
Vendor
CVE Published:
11 June 2026

What is CVE-2026-40998?

The vulnerability stems from the handling of XPath expressions within Spring Web Services, specifically involving the evaluation of XML inputs through the JDK's default DocumentBuilderFactory. This default handling does not incorporate the secure configurations provided by Spring, leading to potential exposure in applications that evaluate XPath against untrusted XML payloads. Attackers can leverage this flaw to execute XML External Entity (XXE) attacks, posing significant risks to the integrity and confidentiality of the affected applications.

Affected Version(s)

Spring Web Services 5.0.0 < 5.0.1.1

Spring Web Services 4.1.0 < 4.1.3.1

Spring Web Services 4.0.0 < 4.0.19

References

https://spring.io/security/cve-2026-40998

CVSS V3.1

Score:
8.2
Severity:
HIGH
Confidentiality:
High
Integrity:
Low
Availability:
High
Attack Vector:
Network
Attack Complexity:
Low
Privileges Required:
None
User Interaction:
None
Scope:
Unchanged

Timeline

  • Vulnerability published

  • Vulnerability Reserved

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