CVE-2026-40977 Spring Boot's PID file write follows symlinks at predictable default path
A local attacker can corrupt a file on the host via symlink attacks when ApplicationPidFileWriter is enabled.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-40977?
CVE-2026-40977 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Spring Boot, published on 27 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
When an application is configured to use `ApplicationPidFileWriter`, a local attacker with write access to the PID file's location can corrupt one file on the host each time the application is started.
Affected: Spring Boot 4.0.0–4.0.5 (fix 4.0.6), 3.5.0–3.5.13 (fix 3.5.14), 3.4.0–3.4.15 (fix 3.4.16), 3.3.0–3.3.18 (fix 3.3.19), 2.7.0–2.7.32 (fix 2.7.33); PID file / symlink behavior (`ApplicationPidFileWriter`). Versions that are no longer supported are also affected per vendor advisory.
Weakness: CWE-59
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-40977?
10 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-cassandra. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-cassandra Maven | All versions to 2.7.32 | None |
org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-cassandra Maven | All versions to 2.7.32 | None |
org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-cassandra Maven | From 3.3.0 to 3.3.18 | None |
org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-cassandra Maven | From 3.3.0 to 3.3.18 | None |
org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-cassandra Maven | From 3.4.0 to 3.4.15 | None |
org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-cassandra Maven | From 3.4.0 to 3.4.15 | None |
4 more packages
org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-cassandra Maven | From 3.5.0 | 3.5.14 |
org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-cassandra Maven | From 3.5.0 | 3.5.14 |
org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-cassandra Maven | From 4.0.0 | 4.0.6 |
org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-cassandra Maven | From 4.0.0 | 4.0.6 |
Products include Vmware Spring Boot.
How do I fix CVE-2026-40977?
Upgrade org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-cassandra to a fixed version for your release line: 3.5.14 or 4.0.6.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-40977 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-40977 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Spring Boot
- CVE-2023-20873 Spring Boot Security Bypass with Wildcard Pattern Matching on Cloud Foundry
- CVE-2026-40976 Spring Boot's default security filter chain has no authorization rule with Actuator but without Health
- CVE-2026-22731 Authentication Bypass under Actuator Health groups paths
- CVE-2026-22733 Authentication Bypass under Actuator CloudFoundry endpoints
- CVE-2022-27772 Temporary Directory Hijacking to Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in org.springframework.boot:spring-boot
Sources
Also known as GHSA-5368-6h4h-gr29.