# CVE-2024-38808: CVE-2024-38808: Spring Expression DoS Vulnerability

> Attackers can cause denial of service by submitting crafted Spring Expression Language expressions in applications that evaluate user input.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 20 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 30 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** CLEANSTART-2026-RC02352, CLSA-2026-1775694715, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-38808, ECHO-714f-2a6c-0767, GHSA-9cmq-m9j5-mvww, ROOT-APP-MAVEN-CVE-2024-38808, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-38808

## What is CVE-2024-38808?

CVE-2024-38808 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager, published on 20 Aug 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

In Spring Framework versions 5.3.0 - 5.3.38 and older unsupported versions, it is possible for a user to provide a specially crafted Spring Expression Language (SpEL) expression that may cause a denial of service (DoS) condition.

Specifically, an application is vulnerable when the following is true:

  *  The application evaluates user-supplied SpEL expressions.

Weakness: CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-38808?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.springframework:spring-expression. It affects 3 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `org.springframework:spring-expression` | Maven | All versions | 5.3.39 |
| `org.springframework:spring-expression` | Maven | All versions | 5.3.39 |

Products: Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager, Netapp Oncommand Insight, Vmware Spring Framework.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-38808?

Upgrade org.springframework:spring-expression to 5.3.39 or later.

## Is CVE-2024-38808 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-38808 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager

- [CVE-2022-31692](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31692/): Spring Security authorization rules can be bypassed via forward or include dispatcher types (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-2526](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-2526/): Use after free in systemd-resolved (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-22978](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-22978/): Authorization bypass in Spring Security (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-22931](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22931/): Code injection in Node (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-2938](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-2938/): Code injection in Java (critical 9.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-38808 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-38808 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager, published on 20 Aug 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-38808 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- org.springframework:spring-expression (Maven): affected all versions; fixed in 5.3.39
- org.springframework:spring-expression (Maven): affected all versions; fixed in 5.3.39

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-38808/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-38808/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-38808
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38808
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38808

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-38808/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.