Executive brief
Spring AI is a framework used to integrate artificial intelligence capabilities into Java applications. A critical security flaw in its 'SimpleVectorStore' component allows an attacker to execute malicious code on the server. This occurs when the application takes untrusted user input and uses it as a key for filtering data, potentially leading to a full system takeover or data theft.
Technical details
A Spring Expression Language (SpEL) injection vulnerability exists in the SimpleVectorStore component of Spring AI. The root cause is the improper neutralization of special elements when a user-provided value is utilized as a key within a filter expression. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by submitting a crafted SpEL expression, leading to arbitrary code execution (RCE) in the context of the application. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2026-22738 and has been addressed in versions 1.0.5 and 1.1.4.
Affected products
- VMware Spring AI 1.0.0 to 1.0.4, 1.1.0-M1 to 1.1.3
Timeline
- 2026-03-27: disclosed
- 2026-03-27: advisory
- 2026-03-25: patched: Fix committed to repository