CVE-2026-22729: vmware spring_ai Expression Language Injection

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-22729 is a high (CVSS 8.6) Expression Language Injection vulnerability in vmware spring_ai. EPSS estimates a 0.54% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 44.3% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 18-03-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 18-03-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

A JSONPath injection vulnerability in Spring AI's AbstractFilterExpressionConverter allows authenticated users to bypass metadata-based access controls through crafted filter expressions. User-controlled input passed to FilterExpressionBuilder is concatenated into JSONPath queries without proper escaping, enabling attackers to inject arbitrary JSONPath logic and access unauthorized documents. This vulnerability affects applications using vector stores that extend AbstractFilterExpressionConverter for multi-tenant isolation, role-based access control, or document filtering based on metadata. The vulnerability occurs when user-supplied values in filter expressions are not escaped before being inserted into JSONPath queries. Special characters like ", ||, and && are passed through unescaped, allowing injection of arbitrary JSONPath logic that can alter the intended query semantics.

• CWE-917Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an Expression Language Statement ('Expression Language Injection')The product constructs all or part of an expression language (EL) statement in a framework such as a Java Server Page (JSP) using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended EL statement before it is executed.