CVE-2026-40985 Data Binding Vulnerability in Spring Web Flow with Unified EL Parser

Medium 6.4 Published Updated

Attackers can execute arbitrary code via malicious Unified EL expressions in applications using Spring Web Flow with specific parser configurations.

Exploited in the wild
Not known
Login needed
Any signed-in user
Attackable
Over the internet
Victim action needed
A user has to click or open something
Fix
Available

What is CVE-2026-40985?

CVE-2026-40985 is a medium-severity code injection vulnerability in Spring Web Flow, published on 11 Jun 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

Applications that configure the WebFlowELExpressionParser are vulnerable to the use of malicious Unified EL expressions.

Affected versions: Spring Web Flow 4.0.0; 3.0.0 through 3.0.1; 2.5.0 through 2.5.1.

Weakness: CWE-917

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-40985?

6 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.springframework.webflow:spring-webflow. It affects 1 product.

PackageAffectedFixed in
org.springframework.webflow:spring-webflow MavenAll versions to 2.5.1None
org.springframework.webflow:spring-webflow MavenAll versions to 2.5.1None
org.springframework.webflow:spring-webflow MavenFrom 3.0.03.0.2
org.springframework.webflow:spring-webflow MavenFrom 3.0.03.0.2
org.springframework.webflow:spring-webflow MavenFrom 4.0.04.0.1
org.springframework.webflow:spring-webflow MavenFrom 4.0.04.0.1

Products include Broadcom Spring Web Flow.

How do I fix CVE-2026-40985?

Upgrade org.springframework.webflow:spring-webflow to a fixed version for your release line: 3.0.2 or 4.0.1.

Upgrade, and never evaluate templates, expressions or code built from user input. More about Code injection.

Is CVE-2026-40985 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-40985 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-9ggw-87m9-9gfc.

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