CVE-2022-22980
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2022-22980 is a SpEL injection vulnerability in Spring Data MongoDB that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code when using @Query or @Aggregation annotations with unsanitized user input. This affects applications using Spring Data MongoDB with SpEL expressions containing query parameter placeholders. Attackers can achieve remote code execution with minimal privileges.
💻 Affected Systems
- Spring Data MongoDB
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, and lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Database compromise, data manipulation or theft, and potential privilege escalation within the application context.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper input validation and sanitization, potentially only causing application errors.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires minimal technical skill due to the nature of injection vulnerabilities and available proof-of-concepts.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Spring Data MongoDB 3.3.5 and 3.2.8
Vendor Advisory: https://tanzu.vmware.com/security/cve-2022-22980
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update Spring Data MongoDB dependency to version 3.3.5 or 3.2.8. 2. Update pom.xml or build.gradle with new version. 3. Rebuild and redeploy application. 4. Restart application server.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation and Sanitization
allImplement strict input validation and sanitize all user inputs before passing to SpEL expressions.
Disable SpEL Expressions
allAvoid using SpEL expressions in @Query or @Aggregation annotations where possible.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict input validation and sanitization for all user inputs
- Use network segmentation to isolate vulnerable applications and implement WAF rules to block injection patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Spring Data MongoDB version in pom.xml or build.gradle. If using versions 3.3.0-3.3.4 or 3.2.0-3.2.7 with @Query/@Aggregation annotations using SpEL expressions, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
grep -i 'spring-data-mongodb' pom.xml || grep -i 'spring-data-mongodb' build.gradleVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Spring Data MongoDB version is 3.3.5+ or 3.2.8+ in dependencies and application logs show successful startup with patched version.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual SpEL expression parsing errors
- Unexpected database queries from application endpoints
- Stack traces containing SpEL evaluation exceptions
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing SpEL expression patterns to vulnerable endpoints
- Unusual outbound connections from application servers
SIEM Query:
source="application.logs" AND ("SpEL" OR "@Query" OR "@Aggregation") AND ("error" OR "exception" OR "injection")