CVE-2020-5405Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Arbitrary configuration serving via encoded traversal

Published Mar 5, 2020 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

Path traversal in Spring Cloud Config 2.1.0 through 2.1.6 and 2.2.0 through 2.2.1 allows remote attackers to serve arbitrary configuration files. GenericResourceRepository resolves resources from search locations without first decoding and rejecting encoded parent-directory sequences. Exploitation requires a crafted Config Server URL and user interaction; internal-network placement and Spring Security restrict reachability.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability68.76%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Path traversal in Spring Cloud Config 2.1.0 through 2.1.6 and 2.2.0 through 2.2.1 allows remote attackers to serve arbitrary configuration files. GenericResourceRepository resolves resources from search locations without first decoding and rejecting encoded parent-directory sequences. Exploitation requires a crafted Config Server URL and user interaction; internal-network placement and Spring Security restrict reachability.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-5405
Published
Mar 5, 2020
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
Spring
Product
Spring Cloud Config
Classifications
CWE-22, CWE-23
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 5, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=2.1 <2.1.7
  2. Affected versionversion=2.2 <2.2.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Spring · Spring Cloud Configversion=2.1 <2.1.7; version=2.2 <2.2.2

Published CVSS scores

4.3NIST NVDAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
6.5GitHub Advisory DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
6.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CWE-23Relative Path Traversal

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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