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Spring BootFramework / library · VMware

CVE-2023-20873

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.5.15 / 2.6.14 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
In Spring Boot versions 3.0.0 - 3.0.5, 2.7.0 - 2.7.10, and older unsupported versions, an application that is deployed to Cloud Foundry could be susceptible to a security bypass. Users of affected versions should apply the following mitigation: 3.0.x users should upgrade to 3.0.6+. 2.7.x users should upgrade to 2.7.11+. Users of older, unsupported versions should upgrade to 3.0.6+ or 2.7.11+.

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 · moderate confidence

A security bypass vulnerability exists in Spring Boot applications deployed to Cloud Foundry. The specific nature of the bypass is not detailed in the advisory, but the vulnerability is triggered when the application runs in a Cloud Foundry environment, allowing security controls to be circumvented.

MitigationUpgrade Spring Boot to version 3.0.6 or later for 3.0.x users, or 2.7.11 or later for 2.7.x users. Unsupported older versions should upgrade to one of these supported releases.

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 BootFramework / library
Affected:< 2.5.15>= 2.6.0, < 2.6.14>= 2.7.0, < 2.7.11>= 3.0.0, < 3.0.6

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Verify the application is deployed to Cloud Foundry
    Check for Cloud Foundry environment variables: look for VCAP_SERVICES, CF_INSTANCE_* vars, or run `cf apps` to list applications in the Cloud Foundry target. Also check if the application explicitly uses the spring-boot-starter-cloudfoundry or Cloud Foundry auto-reconfiguration features.
    Affected if The application is running on Cloud Foundry AND the Spring Boot version falls within the affected ranges below.
  2. Determine the Spring Boot version
    Locate the Spring Boot version from one of: (1) the pom.xml or build.gradle build file, (2) the MANIFEST.MF file inside the packaged JAR under the 'Implementation-Version' key, or (3) the spring-boot-dependencies POM if using a parent POM. Run `java -jar yourapp.jar --version` if the application is directly executable.
    Affected if The installed version is < 2.5.15, OR >= 2.6.0 and < 2.6.14, OR >= 2.7.0 and < 2.7.11, OR >= 3.0.0 and < 3.0.6.
  3. Confirm Cloud Foundry actuator endpoints are in use
    Check application configuration (application.properties or application.yml) for actuator endpoints enabled via management.endpoints.web.* properties, particularly if exposed publicly in a Cloud Foundry deployment context.
    Affected if Actuator endpoints are exposed in a Cloud Foundry deployment with a vulnerable Spring Boot version.

The environment is affected if the Spring Boot application is running on Cloud Foundry with a version less than 2.5.15, between 2.6.0-2.6.13, between 2.7.0-2.7.10, or between 3.0.0-3.0.5.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.5.15 / 2.6.14 / 2.7.11 or later
Fixed in 2.5.152.6.142.7.11
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Spring Boot to version 3.0.6 or later for 3.0.x users, or 2.7.11 or later for 2.7.x users. Unsupported older versions should upgrade to one of these supported releases.

Recommended fix High confidence

3.0.6+ for 3.0.x branch; 2.7.11+ for 2.7.x and older branches

  1. 1. Identify the current Spring Boot version in your project's pom.xml or build.gradle file
  2. 2. For Spring Boot 3.0.x users: upgrade to version 3.0.6 or later
  3. 3. For Spring Boot 2.7.x users: upgrade to version 2.7.11 or later
  4. 4. For Spring Boot 2.6.x users: upgrade to version 2.7.11 or later (recommended) or migrate to 3.0.6+
  5. 5. For Spring Boot versions < 2.5.15: upgrade to 2.7.11+ or 3.0.6+
  6. 6. Update the Spring Boot version in your build configuration file
  7. 7. Rebuild and test the application, particularly verifying Cloud Foundry deployment behavior
Caveat Same-branch upgrades (e.g., 2.7.10 to 2.7.11) typically have minimal breaking changes; upgrading from 2.x to 3.x has significant breaking changes requiring code adjustments

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Spring Boot Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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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-2023-20873 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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