Path Traversal in VMware Spring Framework
CVE-2025-41242
Spring Framework MVC applications can be vulnerable to a “Path Traversal Vulnerability” when deployed on a non-compliant Servlet container. An application can be vulnerable when all the following are true: * the application is deployed as a WAR or with an embedded Servlet container * the Servlet container does not reject suspicious sequences https://jakarta.ee/specifications/servlet/6.1/jakarta-servlet-spec-6.1.html#uri-path-canonicalization * the application serves static resources https://docs.spring.io/spring-framework/reference/web/webmvc/mvc-config/static-resources.html#page-title with Spring resource handling We have verified that applications deployed on Apache Tomcat or Eclipse Jetty are not vulnerable, as long as default security features are not disabled in the configuration. Because we cannot check exploits against all Servlet containers and configuration variants, we strongly recommend upgrading your application.
Vulnerability class: Path Traversal (Directory Traversal)
EPSS: 0.021 (80.0th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 5.9 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.
Affected products
- Vmware Spring Framework — versions 6.2.x, 6.1.x, 5.3.x
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-41242?
- CVE-2025-41242 is a medium-severity vulnerability in VMware Spring Framework, classified under Path Traversal. CVSS score: 5.9/10. Published 2025-08-18.
- How severe is CVE-2025-41242?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.9 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2025-41242 known to be exploited?
- 4 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.