Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2022-22965

Spring Framework Remote Code Execution

VMware / Spring Framework · Spring Framework versions 5.3.X prior to 5.3.18+, 5.2.x prior to 5.2.20+ and all old and unsupported versions

Watch CVE-2022-22965 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
99.6%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2022-22965 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting VMware Spring Framework. A Spring MVC or Spring WebFlux application running on JDK 9+ may be vulnerable to remote code execution (RCE) via data binding. The...

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed. Listed in CISA KEV. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

VMware / Spring Framework spring framework versions 5.3.x prior to 5.3.18+, 5.2.x prior to 5.2.20+ and all old and unsupported versions.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Spring Framework Remote Code Execution

A Spring MVC or Spring WebFlux application running on JDK 9+ may be vulnerable to remote code execution (RCE) via data binding. The specific exploit requires the application to run on Tomcat as a WAR deployment. If the application is deployed as a Spring Boot executable jar, i.e.

the default, it is not vulnerable to the exploit. However, the nature of the vulnerability is more general, and there may be other ways to exploit it.

n/a Affected
Spring Framework
Spring Framework versions 5.3.X prior to 5.3.18+, 5.2.x prior to 5.2.20+ and all old and unsupported versions
View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
01 Apr 2022
Exploitation Reported
04 Apr 2022
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

java cisa nuclei_scanner metasploit

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 04 Apr 2022

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 31 Mar 2022

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
CISA First 2022-04-04 00:00 UTC
The Shadowserver 2026-05-31 00:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
0
0
0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/spring_framework_rce_spring4shell.rb 28 Apr 2025
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2022/CVE-2022-22965.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

9.8 Critical

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

99.6%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') CWE-94

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 9.8 Critical

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 7.5 High

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

Spring - Remote Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

spring_framework_rce_spring4shell

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2022-22965

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 00:00 UTC

    KEV confirmed by The Shadowserver

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  2. 15:02 UTC

    Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  3. 15:02 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  4. 00:00 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  5. 00:00 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  6. 22:17 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  7. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

Start 14-day Pro trial Read API docs
  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2022-22965

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2022-22965",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99638,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}