# CVE-2026-41721: VMware Spring Data Commons denial of service in @ProjectedPayload

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-41721-vmware-spring-data-commons-denial-of-service-in-projectedpayload  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-06-10. Updated: 2026-08-12  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-41721 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.9 · Published 2026-06-10

Spring Data Commons, a widely used library for managing data access in Java applications, is vulnerable to a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. If an application uses specific web support features (specifically @ProjectedPayload), an attacker can send a malicious request that forces the server to consume excessive amounts of memory. This can lead to application crashes or severe performance degradation, effectively making the service unavailable to legitimate users.

Technologies: [org.springframework.data:spring-data-commons (Maven)](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/org-springframework-data-spring-data-commons). Vendors: [Maven](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/maven).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-41721 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-41721 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-41721?** Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5.9, published 10 June 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** org.springframework.data:spring-data-commons (Maven) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=4.0.0,fixed=4.0.6.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-41721?** Yes. org.springframework.data:spring-data-commons (Maven): upgrade to 4.0.6 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-41721 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-41721?** Check whether you run org.springframework.data:spring-data-commons (Maven) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## How to fix

- org.springframework.data:spring-data-commons (Maven): upgrade to 4.0.6 or later

  ```sh
  # set org.springframework.data:spring-data-commons to 4.0.6 in your pom.xml or build.gradle
  ```


## Technical details

A resource exhaustion vulnerability (CWE-400) exists in Spring Data Commons due to improper memory allocation during projection binding. The issue occurs when Spring Data Web Support is enabled and a Controller method utilizes the @ProjectedPayload annotation. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending a specially crafted HTTP request designed to trigger excessive memory allocation. This results in a Denial of Service (DoS) via memory exhaustion. The attack complexity is rated as high, likely due to the specific configuration requirements. Patches have been released in versions 4.0.6 and 3.5.12.

## Affected products

- Spring Spring Data Commons 4.0.0 to 4.0.5, 3.5.0 to 3.5.11, 3.4.0 to 3.4.14, 3.3.0 to 3.3.16, 3.2.0 to 3.2.15, 3.1.0 to 3.1.14, 3.0.0 to 3.0.15, 2.7.0 to 2.7.19

## Identifiers

- CVE-2026-41721
- GHSA-5m4m-73w9-8433

## Timeline

- 2026-06-09: patched: Release 3.5.12 tagged
- 2026-06-10: disclosed: NVD and GitHub Advisory published
- 2026-08-12: advisory: GitHub Advisory updated

## References

- [https://spring.io/security/cve-2026-41721](https://spring.io/security/cve-2026-41721)
- [https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-data-commons/releases/tag/3.5.12](https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-data-commons/releases/tag/3.5.12)
- [https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-data-commons/releases/tag/4.0.6](https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-data-commons/releases/tag/4.0.6)

## Related threats

- [VMware Spring Data heap exhaustion in property-lookup cache](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-41716-vmware-spring-data-heap-exhaustion-in-property-lookup-cache)
- [VMware Spring Data Commons DoS in Sort parameter parsing](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-41711-vmware-spring-data-commons-dos-in-sort-parameter-parsing)
- [VMware Spring Data Commons denial of service in MappingContext](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-41695-vmware-spring-data-commons-denial-of-service-in-mappingcontext)
- [Spring Data Commons contain a property path parser vulnerability caused by unlimited resource allocation](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2018-1274-spring-data-commons-contain-a-property-path-parser-vulnerability)
- [Spring Data Commons, used in combination with XMLBeam, contains a property binder vulnerability caused by improper…](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2018-1259-spring-data-commons-used-in-combination-with-xmlbeam-contains-a)