dbcve.org
Spring FrameworkFramework / library · Springsource

CVE-2011-2730

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-12-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.0.5 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
VMware SpringSource Spring Framework before 2.5.6.SEC03, 2.5.7.SR023, and 3.x before 3.0.6, when a container supports Expression Language (EL), evaluates EL expressions in tags twice, which allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information via a (1) name attribute in a (a) spring:hasBindErrors tag; (2) path attribute in a (b) spring:bind or (c) spring:nestedpath tag; (3) arguments, (4) code, (5) text, (6) var, (7) scope, or (8) message attribute in a (d) spring:message or (e) spring:theme tag; or (9) var, (10) scope, or (11) value attribute in a (f) spring:transform tag, aka "Expression Language Injection."

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

VMware SpringSource Spring Framework versions prior to 2.5.6.SEC03, 2.5.7.SR023, and 3.0.6 contain an Expression Language (EL) injection vulnerability. When running in a container that supports EL, the framework evaluates EL expressions in various tag attributes twice, allowing remote attackers to extract sensitive information by injecting malicious EL expressions through attributes like 'name', 'path', 'var', 'scope', 'message', or 'value' in tags such as spring:hasBindErrors, spring:bind, spring:nestedpath, spring:message, spring:theme, and spring:transform.

MitigationUpgrade Spring Framework to version 2.5.6.SEC03, 2.5.7.SR023, 3.0.6, or later. If immediate upgrade is not possible, avoid deploying applications using the affected tags in untrusted environments.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Spring FrameworkFramework / library
Affected:<= 2.5.7_sr01<= 3.0.5= 2.5.0= 2.5.1= 2.5.2= 2.5.3= 2.5.4= 2.5.5= 2.5.6= 2.5.7= 3.0.0= 3.0.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed Spring Framework version
    Locate the Spring Framework JAR files in your application's classpath (typically in WEB-INF/lib or lib directory). Check the MANIFEST.MF file inside spring.jar, spring-core.jar, or similar for the Implementation-Version attribute. Alternatively, if using Maven, check the pom.xml dependencies for the spring-framework version.
    Affected if The installed version is 2.5.0 through 2.5.7.SR01, or 3.0.0 through 3.0.5 (i.e., any version prior to 2.5.6.SEC03, 2.5.7.SR023, or 3.0.6).
  2. Verify the application runs in an EL-supporting container
    Identify the servlet container or application server hosting the application (e.g., Apache Tomcat, Jetty, IBM WebSphere, Oracle WebLogic). These containers process JSP files and enable EL evaluation by default.
    Affected if The application runs in any servlet container (Tomcat, Jetty, etc.) or J2EE application server that supports JSP and EL expression processing.
  3. Search for usage of vulnerable Spring tags in JSP files
    Scan all JSP files in the application for the following tag library declarations and tag usage: spring:hasBindErrors, spring:bind, spring:nestedpath, spring:message, spring:theme, and spring:transform. Look for JSP files containing these tags with dynamic attribute values.
    Affected if Any of the affected JSP tags (spring:hasBindErrors, spring:bind, spring:nestedpath, spring:message, spring:theme, spring:transform) are used in the application's JSP files.
  4. Check if affected tag attributes accept user input
    For each JSP file using the vulnerable tags, examine whether the attributes 'name', 'path', 'var', 'scope', 'message', or 'value' receive values from request parameters, form inputs, or other user-controlled sources rather than static values.
    Affected if The vulnerable attributes (name, path, var, scope, message, value) in affected tags contain or can receive dynamic, user-supplied values.

You are affected if your Spring Framework version is 2.5.0 through 2.5.7.SR01 or 3.0.0 through 3.0.5 AND your application runs in a servlet container AND uses any of the vulnerable Spring tag library tags with dynamic attribute values.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.0.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Spring Framework to version 2.5.6.SEC03, 2.5.7.SR023, 3.0.6, or later. If immediate upgrade is not possible, avoid deploying applications using the affected tags in untrusted environments.

Fix this in Spring Framework Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,360
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,576.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-2730 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-2730 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data