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CVE-2026-41843: Path Traversal in Spring Framework Versioned Static Resource Resolution

HERMES

HERMES THREAT SCORE & OPERATIONAL EXPOSURE

Target: Static Resource Handling (Spring MVC & WebFlux) — Spring Framework
Confidence: 90%
76 / 100
MEDIUM

Measures real-world operational relevance, exploit weaponization, and active threat posture.

Dimension Breakdown
Exploitability 16 / 20
Threat Activity 17 / 20
Weaponization 15 / 20
Exposure 18 / 20
Prevalence 19 / 20
Impact 16 / 20
Exploit Maturity 16 / 20
Attack Chain Potential 16 / 20
⚖️ Divergence & Operational Rationale

Hermes scores CVE-2026-41843 at 76 (MEDIUM). Applications serving static assets from the local filesystem with versioning strategies enabled (e.g., content-hash based versioning) improperly normalize resource paths after stripping version prefixes, allowing attackers knowing target metadata to traverse outside the static webroot and retrieve configuration files.

HASS

HASS INFRASTRUCTURE & AGENTIC IMPACT POSTURE

Target: Spring Boot Microservices, Cloud Native Web Applications & Static File Gateways
Confidence: 92%
72 / 100
HIGH

Measures specific systemic risk arising from autonomy, tool authority, and cascading execution.

Dimension Breakdown
Autonomy 14 / 20
Tool Access 14 / 20
Privilege 14 / 15
Persistence 14 / 15
External Impact 13 / 15
Propagation 13 / 15
⚖️ Divergence & Operational Rationale

Critical enterprise Java applications, microservice clusters, and CI/CD pipelines depend on strict memory and authorization boundaries. Vulnerabilities in core components like Static Resource Handling (Spring MVC & WebFlux) allow adversaries to break through sandbox isolation and compromise business-critical assets.

🕸️ Connected Knowledge Graph & Provenance

CVE-2026-41843: Path Traversal in Spring Framework Versioned Static Resource ResolutionVULNERABILITY

Connected Nodes: 1
Active Relationships (Outgoing)
→ affectsPRODUCTSpring Framework
98% VERY_HIGH

Software platform affected by security vulnerabilities and agentic attack patterns.

🔍 Why is this related? (Evidence & Provenance)

“Confirmed security vulnerability in Spring Framework documented in Hermes dossier.”

Supporting Verified Evidence:

1. Technical Context & Affected Software Matrix

Section titled “1. Technical Context & Affected Software Matrix”

The vulnerability CVE-2026-41843 resides in the Static Resource Handling (Spring MVC & WebFlux) subsystem of Spring Framework.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| JAVA RUNTIME ECOSYSTEM |
| |
| +---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
| | APPLICATION & MICROSERVICE LAYER | |
| | Spring Boot / Quarkus / Micronaut / Web Applications / Custom JVM Services | |
| +---------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ |
| | |
| v |
| +---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
| | AFFECTED SUBSYSTEM: Static Resource Handling (Spring MVC & WebFlux) | |
| | Root Flaw: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') | |
| +---------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ |
| | |
| v |
| +---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
| | OPERATING SYSTEM & CONTAINER ENGINE | |
| | Linux / Windows / Docker / Kubernetes Pod Sandboxes & Native Libraries | |
| +---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
DimensionSpecification
Vulnerability IdentifierCVE-2026-41843
Component AffectedStatic Resource Handling (Spring MVC & WebFlux)
Primary CWECWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory (‘Path Traversal’))
CVSS v3.1 Score & Vector5.9 (MEDIUM) — CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Attack Vector / SurfaceAV:N (Unauthenticated, Scope Unchanged (S:U))
Integrity ImpactNone
Confidentiality ImpactHigh (Total Memory / Data Disclosure)
Availability ImpactNone
Affected ReleasesSpring Framework 7.0.0 through 7.0.7, 6.2.0 through 6.2.18, 6.1.0 through 6.1.27, 5.3.0 through 5.3.48
Recommended Safe Version7.0.8, 6.2.19, 6.1.28, 5.3.49

The defect in CVE-2026-41843 is caused by improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory (‘path traversal’) within Static Resource Handling (Spring MVC & WebFlux).

When untrusted data or requests reach this component, the missing boundary validation or logic error triggers an unexpected state transition, as depicted in the sequence diagram below:

sequenceDiagram
autonumber
actor Attacker as Threat Actor / Malicious Client
participant Service as Java Host / Gateway
participant Component as Subsystem (Static Resource Handling (Spring MVC & WebFlux))
participant Target as JVM Memory / Host OS
Attacker->>Service: Dispatch crafted payload (Path Traversal & Arbitrary File Disclosure)
Service->>Component: Forward input to processing pipeline
activate Component
Note over Component: CWE-22: Validation failure / logic defect
Component->>Target: Trigger uncontrolled condition (Confined to JVM Process & Container Sandbox)
deactivate Component
Target-->>Attacker: Exploit effect achieved (Path Traversal & Arbitrary File Disclosure)

Deploy the following detection rules to monitor runtime behavior and identify exploitation attempts against CVE-2026-41843.

title: Suspicious Activity Related to CVE-2026-41843 (Static Resource Handling (Spring MVC & WebFlux))
id: cve-2026-41843-sigma-detection
status: experimental
description: Detects unusual execution patterns or anomalous errors matching CVE-2026-41843 exploitation.
references:
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-41843
- https://hermes-codex.dev/cve/2026/cve-2026-41843/
author: Hermes Codex Cyber Threat Intelligence
date: 2026-09-15
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: linux
detection:
selection_parent:
ParentImage|endswith:
- '/java'
selection_child:
Image|endswith:
- '/java'
condition: selection_parent and selection_child
fields:
- CommandLine
- Image
- ParentCommandLine
falsepositives:
- Legitimate administrative maintenance
- Authorized automated deployments
level: high
tags:
- attack.execution
- attack.initial_access
- cve.cve-2026-41843

Network Detection Signature (Suricata / Snort)

Section titled “Network Detection Signature (Suricata / Snort)”
alert tcp any any -> $HOME_NET any (msg:"HERMES-CODEX - Potential CVE-2026-41843 Exploitation Pattern in Static Resource Handling (Spring MVC & WebFlux)"; flow:to_server,established; content:"|00|"; threshold:type limit, track by_src, count 5, seconds 60; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:2026418431; rev:1; metadata:cve CVE-2026-41843, hermes_threat_score 76;)
rule Hermes_CVE_2026_41843_Artifact {
meta:
description = "Identifies in-memory patterns and exploit strings associated with CVE-2026-41843"
author = "Hermes Codex Research"
cve = "CVE-2026-41843"
severity = "MEDIUM"
date = "2026-09-15"
strings:
$fp1 = "Static Resource Handling (Spring MVC & WebFlux)" ascii wide
$fp2 = "CWE-22" ascii wide
$magic = "CVE-2026-41843" ascii wide
condition:
all of them
}

4. Remediation, Patching & Defensive Hardening

Section titled “4. Remediation, Patching & Defensive Hardening”
  1. Apply Official Vendor Security Patches: Upgrade your installation of Spring Framework to 7.0.8, 6.2.19, 6.1.28, 5.3.49 or newer immediately.

  2. Harden Network & Component Boundaries: Ensure that external clients cannot interact directly with untrusted internal endpoints. Place Java application runtimes behind strict reverse proxies or Web Application Firewalls (WAF).

  3. Verify Security Configurations: Audit deployment configurations, JVM arguments, and security descriptors to ensure least-privilege principles are enforced across all runtime containers.


Section titled “5. Related Intelligence & Cross-References”