Spring Cloud Gateway Server Webflux may be vulnerable to Spring Environment property modification. An application should be considered vulnerable when all the following are true: * The application is using Spring Cloud Gateway Server Webflux (Spring Cloud Gateway Server WebMVC is not vulnerable). * Spring Boot actuator is a dependency. * The Spring Cloud Gateway Server Webflux actuator web endpoint is enabled via management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=gateway. * The actuator endpoints are available to attackers. * The actuator endpoints are unsecured.
An attacker can gain access to unsecured Spring Boot Actuator endpoints that have been publicly exposed through the configuration management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=gateway. Through these endpoints, it is possible to modify Spring environment properties (CWE-94: code injection, CWE-917: expression language injection), which can lead to malicious code execution or changes to application behavior. The vulnerability affects only the Webflux variant — the Spring Cloud Gateway Server WebMVC version is not vulnerable.
An unauthenticated attacker without user interaction can modify application environment properties, which may consequently lead to arbitrary code execution, disclosure of sensitive data, or complete takeover of the application.
Apply patches available from the vendor according to references (https://spring.io/security/cve-2025-41243). As immediate protective measures: restrict access to Spring Boot Actuator endpoints (e.g., via firewall or authentication mechanisms), disable the gateway endpoint exposure if not required, or do not expose actuator endpoints to untrusted parties.
Applications using Spring Cloud Gateway Server Webflux in which Spring Boot Actuator is a dependency, the gateway actuator endpoint is enabled (management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=gateway), and actuator endpoints are network-accessible and unsecured.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H