Executive brief
Spring Boot applications using embedded Artemis message broker use a fixed, predictable directory path for storing broker data when no explicit path is configured. A local attacker with low privileges on the same system can exploit this by pre-creating the directory or placing a symlink before the application starts, allowing unauthorized access to or modification of sensitive message broker data.
Technical details
The vulnerability is an insecure temporary file creation issue (CWE-377) in Spring Boot's ArtemisEmbeddedConfigurationFactory class. When auto-configuring an embedded Artemis message broker without an explicit data directory path, the factory uses a hardcoded, predictable directory location. A local attacker with low privileges can exploit this by creating a directory or symlink at the known path before the Spring Boot application starts. This allows the attacker to intercept or manipulate the Artemis data directory. The attack requires local access to the system and no user interaction. The fix involves updating ArtemisEmbeddedConfigurationFactory to use the secure ApplicationTemp class for generating the data directory path, ensuring the location is randomly generated rather than predictable. Patches are available for versions 4.0.7 and 3.5.15; older branches (3.4, 3.3, 2.7) do not have publicly available patches.
Affected products
- Spring Spring Boot 4.0.0-4.0.6, 3.5.0-3.5.14, 3.4.0-3.4.16, 3.3.0-3.3.19, 2.7.0-2.7.33
- Spring spring-boot-autoconfigure 4.0.0-4.0.6, 3.5.0-3.5.14, 3.4.0-3.4.16, 3.3.0-3.3.19, 2.7.0-2.7.33
Timeline
- 2026-06-11: disclosed: Published to GitHub Advisory Database
- 2026-06-11: patched: Spring Boot 4.0.7 and 3.5.15 released with fix