High

Temporary Directory Hijacking to Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in org.springframework.boot:spring-boot

Disclosed: 11.07.2022
Updated: 11.10.2026 12:22

spring-boot versions prior to version v2.2.11.RELEASE was vulnerable to temporary directory hijacking. This vulnerability impacted the org.springframework.boot.web.server.AbstractConfigurableWebServerFactory.createTempDir method.

The vulnerable method is used to create a work directory for embedded web servers such as Tomcat and Jetty. The directory contains configuration files, JSP/class files, etc. If a local attacker got the permission to write in this directory, they could completely take over the application (ie. local privilege escalation).

Impact Location

This vulnerability impacted the following source location:

java

	/**
	 * Return the absolute temp dir for given web server.
	 * @param prefix server name
	 * @return the temp dir for given server.
	 */
	protected final File createTempDir(String prefix) {
		try {
			File tempDir = File.createTempFile(prefix + ".", "." + getPort());
			tempDir.delete();
			tempDir.mkdir();
			tempDir.deleteOnExit();
			return tempDir;
		}

- https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-boot/blob/ce70e7d768977242a8ea6f93188388f273be5851/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/server/AbstractConfigurableWebServerFactory.java#L165-L177

This vulnerability exists because File.mkdir returns false when it fails to create a directory, it does not throw an exception. As such, the following race condition exists:

java

File tmpDir =File.createTempFile(prefix + ".", "." + getPort()); // Attacker knows the full path of the file that will be generated
// delete the file that was created
tmpDir.delete(); // Attacker sees file is deleted and begins a race to create their own directory before Jetty.
// and make a directory of the same name
// SECURITY VULNERABILITY: Race Condition! - Attacker beats java code and now owns this directory
tmpDir.mkdirs(); // This method returns 'false' because it was unable to create the directory. No exception is thrown.
// Attacker can write any new files to this directory that they wish.
// Attacker can read any files created by this process.

Prerequisites

This vulnerability impacts Unix-like systems, and very old versions of Mac OSX and Windows as they all share the system temporary directory between all users.

Patches

This vulnerability was inadvertently fixed as a part of this patch: https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-boot/commit/667ccdae84822072f9ea1a27ed5c77964c71002d

This vulnerability is patched in versions v2.2.11.RELEASE or later.

Workarounds

Setting the java.io.tmpdir system environment variable to a directory that is exclusively owned by the executing user will fix this vulnerability for all operating systems.

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

Platform	Package	Vulnerable versions	Fixed in
Java / Kotlin (Maven)	org.springframework.boot:spring-boot	< 2.2.11.RELEASE	2.2.11.RELEASE

References

CVSS score 7.8/10

CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness (CWE): CWE-377, CWE-379, CWE-668
Platform: Java / Kotlin (Maven)
Package: org.springframework.boot:spring-boot
Disclosed: 11.07.2022
Updated: 11.10.2026 12:22

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-cm59-pr5q-cw85 - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: org.springframework.boot:spring-boot

All published vulnerabilities of this package (Java / Kotlin (Maven)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

Total entries: 5
First → latest: 10.2018 04.2026
Without a fix: 0
Exploited in attacks: 0

Severity breakdown

Critical 1
High 3
Medium 1

Disclosures per year

2018: 1
2019: 0
2020: 0
2021: 0
2022: 1
2023: 0
2024: 0
2025: 1
2026: 2

28.04.2026

Spring Boot accepts predictable temp directory without ownership verification

High · 7.0 CVE-2026-40973 >= 4.0.0, < 4.0.6, >= 3.5.0, < 3.5.14, >= 3.4.0, <= 3.4.15, >= 3.3.0, <= 3.3.18, <= 2.7.32 4.0.6, 3.5.14
28.04.2026

Spring Boot's default security filter chain has no authorization rule with Actuator but without Health

Critical · 9.1 CVE-2026-40976 >= 4.0.0, < 4.0.6 4.0.6
28.04.2025

Spring Boot EndpointRequest.to() creates wrong matcher if actuator endpoint is not exposed

High · 7.3 CVE-2025-22235 <= 2.7.24.2, >= 3.1.0, <= 3.1.15.2, >= 3.2.0, <= 3.2.13.2, >= 3.3.0, < 3.3.11, >= 3.4.0, < 3.4.5 3.3.11, 3.4.5
11.07.2022

Temporary Directory Hijacking to Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in org.springframework.boot:spring-boot this entry

High · 7.8 CVE-2022-27772 < 2.2.11.RELEASE 2.2.11.RELEASE
18.10.2018

Moderate severity vulnerability that affects org.springframework.boot:spring-boot

Medium · 5.9 CVE-2018-1196 >= 1.5.0, < 1.5.10 1.5.10

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