Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-40967

RCE in Vmware Spring Ai 1.0.0 – 1.0.6

Published
28 April 2026
Modified
29 April 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0039 32th percentile
Risk Priority 64 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-40967 is a high-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Vmware Spring Ai. Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked at the 32th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as NLP and Transformers; in the LLM/Generative AI Risks risk domain.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-40967 is a code injection vulnerability (CWE-94) in Spring AI's FilterExpressionConverter implementations, which accept filter expression objects and translate them into specific vector store query languages. In affected versions, keys and values are not properly escaped, enabling attackers to alter the resulting queries. The vulnerability impacts Spring AI versions 1.0.0 through 1.0.5 and 1.1.0 through 1.1.4, with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.6 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L).

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely with low complexity by submitting malicious filter expressions through application interfaces that use the affected converters. Successful exploitation allows query alteration in vector stores, potentially leading to high confidentiality impacts such as unauthorized data access, alongside low integrity and availability effects.

The Spring security advisory at https://spring.io/security/cve-2026-40967 details the issue and confirms fixes in Spring AI 1.0.6 and 1.1.5, recommending immediate upgrades for affected deployments.

This vulnerability is particularly relevant in AI/ML contexts, as Spring AI integrates with vector stores commonly used for embedding-based retrieval and generation workflows. No public evidence of real-world exploitation has been reported.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In Spring AI, various FilterExpressionConverter implementations accept a filter expression object and translate them to specific vector store query languages. In several cases, keys and values are not properly escaped, leading to the ability to alter the query. Affected versions:…

more

Spring AI: 1.0.0 - 1.0.5 (fixed in 1.0.6), 1.1.0 - 1.1.4 (fixed in 1.1.5)

CWE(s)

AI Security AnalysisAI

AI Category
NLP and Transformers
Risk Domain
LLM/Generative AI Risks
OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
None mapped
Classification Reason
Matched keywords: ai

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.002 AppleScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse AppleScript for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.005 Visual Basic Execution
Adversaries may abuse Visual Basic (VB) for execution.
T1059.006 Python Execution
Adversaries may abuse Python commands and scripts for execution.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-22738Same product: Vmware Spring Ai
CVE-2026-22744Same product: Vmware Spring Ai
CVE-2026-22743Same product: Vmware Spring Ai
CVE-2026-22729Same product: Vmware Spring Ai
CVE-2026-22742Same product: Vmware Spring Ai
CVE-2026-22730Same product: Vmware Spring Ai
CVE-2024-22274Same vendor: Vmware
CVE-2024-37084Same vendor: Vmware
CVE-2022-22954Same vendor: Vmware
CVE-2026-31236Shared CWE-94

Affected Assets

vmware
spring ai
1.0.0 — 1.0.6 · 1.1.0 — 1.1.5

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.3.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation finds code paths that accept and execute externally influenced strings.

Input validation directly stops untrusted data from being used to construct executable code without neutralization.

Least privilege limits the damage an injected code fragment can perform once executed.

Requiring documented secure development standards and tools enforces use of safe code-generation APIs and escaping.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).

PR.DS-10 none match
prevents

PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

prevents

Banning unapproved code samples and unauthenticated web services, combined with secure-coding standards and SAST, prevents the dynamic generation or inclusion of attacker-supplied code.

none

Controls that restrict unauthorized or malicious code from being introduced via external networks or removable media limit opportunities for an attacker to inject and execute arbitrary code.

References