CVE-2024-38807
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows attackers to forge signatures on nested JAR files in Spring Boot applications, making malicious content appear signed by trusted sources. It affects applications using spring-boot-loader or spring-boot-loader-classic with custom signature verification code. Developers who implement custom signature validation for nested JARs are primarily impacted.
💻 Affected Systems
- Spring Boot applications using spring-boot-loader
- Spring Boot applications using spring-boot-loader-classic
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could deploy malicious code that appears to be signed by trusted entities, leading to supply chain attacks, data breaches, or system compromise.
Likely Case
Malicious JAR files could be injected into applications, potentially leading to unauthorized code execution or data manipulation.
If Mitigated
With proper signature verification controls and monitoring, impact would be limited to failed signature checks without execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires the attacker to have access to modify JAR files and knowledge of the application's signature verification implementation.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Spring Boot 3.3.2 and 3.2.10
Vendor Advisory: https://spring.io/security/cve-2024-38807
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update Spring Boot to version 3.3.2 or 3.2.10. 2. Update dependencies in your pom.xml or build.gradle. 3. Rebuild and redeploy your application. 4. Restart affected services.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable custom signature verification
allTemporarily remove or disable custom code that performs signature verification of nested JAR files until patching is possible.
Implement additional validation
allAdd additional integrity checks beyond signature verification, such as hash validation or source verification.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network segmentation to isolate affected applications from critical systems
- Enhance monitoring for unexpected JAR file modifications or signature validation failures
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if your application uses spring-boot-loader or spring-boot-loader-classic and contains custom code for verifying signatures of nested JAR files.Check Version:
java -jar your-application.jar --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Spring Boot version is 3.3.2 or 3.2.10 or higher, and test signature verification functionality with known good and bad signatures.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected signature validation failures
- Multiple failed signature checks from same source
- JAR file modification timestamps mismatching signature dates
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from Spring Boot applications
- Downloads of JAR files from untrusted sources
SIEM Query:
source="spring-boot" AND (event="signature_validation_failed" OR event="jar_verification_error")