Spring BootFramework / library · VMware
CVE-2023-20883
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 · uneditedIn Spring Boot versions 3.0.0 - 3.0.6, 2.7.0 - 2.7.11, 2.6.0 - 2.6.14, 2.5.0 - 2.5.14 and older unsupported versions, there is potential for a denial-of-service (DoS) attack if Spring MVC is used together with a reverse proxy cache.
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 confidenceSpring Boot versions 3.0.0-3.0.6, 2.7.0-2.7.11, 2.6.0-2.6.14, 2.5.0-2.5.14 and older contain a vulnerability where using Spring MVC with a reverse proxy cache could allow attackers to trigger denial-of-service conditions.
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
< 2.5.14>= 2.6.0, <= 2.6.14>= 2.7.0, <= 2.7.11>= 3.0.0, <= 3.0.6CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify installed Spring Boot versionCheck your project's pom.xml or build.gradle for the spring-boot-starter parent version, or run `mvn dependency:tree | grep spring-boot` to list Spring Boot dependencies and their versionsAffected if version is < 2.5.14, OR >= 2.6.0 and <= 2.6.14, OR >= 2.7.0 and <= 2.7.11, OR >= 3.0.0 and <= 3.0.6
-
Confirm Spring MVC is in useCheck your pom.xml or build.gradle for spring-boot-starter-web or spring-webmvc dependency, or inspect your application's dependencies with `mvn dependency:list`Affected if Spring MVC (spring-boot-starter-web) is present in the project dependencies
-
Check for reverse proxy cache configurationInspect your application.properties or application.yml for cache-related configuration such as spring.cache.* properties, or check your reverse proxy (nginx, Apache, etc.) configuration for caching directives that interact with your Spring applicationAffected if any caching mechanism is configured that could be exploited through Spring MVC endpoints
You are affected if your Spring Boot version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND you use Spring MVC with a reverse proxy cache configured.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped2.5.14
Upgrade to Spring Boot 3.0.7+, 2.7.12+, 2.6.15+, or 2.5.14+ respectively, or later patched versions.
Spring Boot 2.5.14+ (for 2.5.x users), 2.6.14+ (for 2.6.x users), 2.7.12+ (for 2.7.x users), or 3.0.7+ / 3.1.0+ (for 3.0.x users)
- 1. Identify your current Spring Boot version from your pom.xml or build.gradle file
- 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on your current version branch (2.5.x, 2.6.x, 2.7.x, or 3.0.x)
- 3. Update the spring-boot.version in your dependency management to the fixed version for your branch
- 4. Run mvn clean install or ./gradlew build to verify the upgrade compiles successfully
- 5. Run your application's test suite to ensure no regressions were introduced
- 6. If using a reverse proxy cache with Spring MVC, verify the fix resolves the DoS vulnerability by testing with cache headers
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
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,616.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20883 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-20883 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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.
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.
- 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