CVE-2026-40997

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Information Disclosure in Spring Web Services

Publication date: 2026-06-11

Last updated on: 2026-06-23

Assigner: VMware

Description

Several Spring WS integration paths with Spring Security could surface detailed account state (for example locked or disabled user semantics) to remote SOAP clients through exception messages or callback outcomes, instead of failing with generic authentication errors. That behavior assists remote attackers in distinguishing valid accounts from invalid ones and inferring lifecycle state. Affected versions: Spring Web Services 5.0.0 through 5.0.1; 4.1.0 through 4.1.3; 4.0.0 through 4.0.18; 3.1.0 through 3.1.8.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-06-11

Last Modified

2026-06-23

Generated

2026-07-01

AI Q&A

2026-06-11

EPSS Evaluated

2026-06-30

NVD

CVE-2026-40997

EUVD

EUVD-2026-36207

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
spring	web_services	From 3.1.0 (inc) to 5.0.1 (inc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-209	The product generates an error message that includes sensitive information about its environment, users, or associated data.

Attack-Flow Graph

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability allows remote attackers to distinguish valid user accounts and infer their lifecycle states by exposing detailed account state information through SOAP exception messages. Such information disclosure could potentially lead to unauthorized access to sensitive user data.

Exposure of sensitive account state information may impact compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, which require safeguarding personal and sensitive information against unauthorized disclosure.

By enabling attackers to enumerate valid accounts and infer account status, the vulnerability increases the risk of targeted attacks and unauthorized data access, which could violate confidentiality and security requirements mandated by these standards.

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-40997 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Spring Web Services (Spring WS) versions 3.1.0 to 5.0.1. It occurs because certain Spring WS integration paths with Spring Security expose detailed account state information, such as whether a user account is locked or disabled, through SOAP security fault messages.

Instead of returning generic authentication errors, exception messages or callback outcomes reveal sensitive information about user accounts. This allows remote attackers to distinguish valid accounts from invalid ones and infer the lifecycle state of accounts.

The vulnerability affects integration paths using username-token, digest, or X.509 validation with Spring Security.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can lead to information disclosure by allowing attackers to enumerate valid user accounts and learn their states, such as whether accounts are locked or disabled.

Such information can be used to facilitate targeted attacks, social engineering, or further exploitation attempts, increasing the security risks to your system.

Mitigation Strategies

The recommended mitigation for CVE-2026-40997 is to upgrade affected Spring Web Services versions to the fixed releases.

Upgrade to version 3.1.9 if you are using the 3.1.x series.
Upgrade to version 4.0.19 if you are using the 4.0.x series.
Upgrade to version 4.1.4 if you are using the 4.1.x series.
Upgrade to version 5.0.2 if you are using the 5.0.x series.

No additional mitigation steps are required beyond upgrading to these fixed versions.

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