CVE-2025-41235VulnerabilityPublished 30 May 2025

CVE-2025-41235: VMware Spring cloud Gateway · Vulnerability

Affects VMware Spring cloud GatewaySource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.6 High.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.6High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 27% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: High
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 30 May 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Mavenorg.springframework.cloud/spring-cloud-gateway`pkg:maven/org.springframework.cloud/spring-cloud-gateway`Other threats	Affected >=2.2.10 <=4.2.2	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-41235, European organizations should take immediate and specific actions beyond generic patching advice: 1) Implement strict validation and sanitization of X-Forwarded-For and Forwarded headers at the network edge or within the gateway configuration, ensuring that only trusted proxies can set or modify these headers. 2) Employ network segmentation and zero-trust principles to limit exposure of the Spring Cloud Gateway to untrusted networks or proxies. 3) Use Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or API gateways with rules to detect and block suspicious or malformed header values indicative of spoofing attempts. 4) Monitor logs for anomalies in forwarded headers, such as unexpected IP addresses or header injection patterns, to detect exploitation attempts early. 5) Apply least privilege principles to services behind the gateway, minimizing the impact if header spoofing occurs. 6) Stay updated with VMware advisories and apply patches or updates as soon as they become available. 7) Consider deploying additional authentication or token-based mechanisms that do not rely solely on IP-based identification to reduce reliance on forwarded headers. 8) Conduct security assessments and penetration tests focusing on header manipulation to validate the effectiveness of controls.

Description

Spring Cloud Gateway Server forwards the X-Forwarded-For and Forwarded headers from untrusted proxies.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-41235 can be substantial, especially for those relying on Spring Cloud Gateway as part of their cloud infrastructure or microservices platforms. The vulnerability can allow attackers to spoof client IP addresses, undermining security policies that depend on accurate client identification, such as IP whitelisting, rate limiting, or geo-restrictions. This can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive services, data integrity violations, and difficulties in forensic investigations due to misleading logs. Critical sectors in Europe, including finance, healthcare, and government, which often implement strict network access controls, may find their defenses weakened. Furthermore, the integrity impact could facilitate lateral movement within networks or enable attackers to bypass security gateways, increasing the risk of data breaches or service manipulation. The absence of confidentiality and availability impacts reduces the risk of data leakage or denial of service directly from this vulnerability, but the integrity compromise alone is significant for compliance with regulations such as GDPR, which mandates data integrity and security. Organizations using Spring Cloud Gateway in multi-tenant or hybrid cloud environments may also face increased risk of cross-tenant attacks or cloud misconfigurations being exploited.

CWE-444Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product acts as an intermediary HTTP agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed HTTP requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination.
Implementation
Use a web server that employs a strict HTTP parsing procedure, such as Apache.
Implementation
Use only SSL communication.
Implementation
Terminate the client session after each request.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
REST Assessment (opens in a new tab)
REST Security (opens in a new tab)
Cross-Site Request Forgery Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.2.5 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
HTTP Response Smuggling (opens in a new tab)
HTTP Request Smuggling (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

spring.io/security/cve-2025-41235 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Jul 2025, 21:42 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-444

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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