Auth bypass in Spring Cloud Config

CVE-2026-40981

When using Google Secrets Manager as a backend for the Spring Cloud Config server a client can craft a request to the config server potentially exposing secrets from unintended GCP projects. Spring Cloud Config 3.1.x: affected from 3.1.0 through 3.1.13 (inclusive); upgrade to 3.1.14 or greater (Enterprise Support Only). Spring Cloud Config 4.1.x: affected from 4.1.0 through 4.1.9 (inclusive); upgrade to 4.1.10 or greater (Enterprise Support Only). Spring Cloud Config 4.2.x: affected from 4.2.0 through 4.2.6 (inclusive); upgrade to 4.2.7 or greater (Enterprise Support Only). Spring Cloud Config 4.3.x: affected from 4.3.0 through 4.3.2 (inclusive); upgrade to 4.3.3 or greater. Spring Cloud Config 5.0.x: affected from 5.0.0 through 5.0.2 (inclusive); upgrade to 5.0.3 or greater.

Vulnerability class: IDOR (Insecure Direct Object Reference)

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.005 (40.1th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 40th percentile — 40.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-40981: held from 0.004 to 0.005.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.005 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-40981?
CVE-2026-40981 is a high-severity vulnerability in Spring Cloud Config, classified under Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2026-05-07.
How severe is CVE-2026-40981?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.