NVD / CVE Program· CNA vmware

CVE-2023-34040: Java Deserialization vulnerability in Spring-Kafka When Improperly Configured

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 32/100)

Public proof-of-concept code exists (GitHub); there is no record of exploitation in the wild.
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 2% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 81.5% of all records.
Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
Fixed version: Spring Spring For Apache Kafka 2.9.11, 3.0.10.
Severity is disputed: the assigning authority (CNA) scores it 5.3, NVD 7.8.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to Spring Spring For Apache Kafka 2.9.11, 3.0.10 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

In Spring for Apache Kafka 3.0.9 and earlier and versions 2.9.10 and earlier, a possible deserialization attack vector existed, but only if unusual configuration was applied. An attacker would have to construct a malicious serialized object in one of the deserialization exception record headers. Specifically, an application is vulnerable when all of the following are true: * The user does not configure an ErrorHandlingDeserializer for the key and/or value of the record * The user explicitly sets container properties checkDeserExWhenKeyNull and/or checkDeserExWhenValueNull container properties to true. * The user allows untrusted sources to publish to a Kafka topic By default, these properties are false, and the container only attempts to deserialize the headers if an ErrorHandlingDeserializer is configured. The ErrorHandlingDeserializer prevents the vulnerability by removing any such malicious headers before processing the record.

HighCVSS 7.8 · v3.1—Proof of concept Fix available

Deserialization

Published: Aug 24, 2023
Updated: Jun 17, 2026
EPSS: 2.0% · 81th percentile
CWE: CWE-502

Report tools

JSON

Action score

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS: 31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
CISA KEV: 0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS: 1 / 30 · 2.0%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation: none
Automatable: no
Technical impact: partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD: 7.8
CNA · vmware: 5.3; 2.5 point gap

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

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
Proof of concept exists, no weaponized module
A fix has been released

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

Vendor	Product	CPE
vmware	spring for apache kafka	cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_for_apache_kafka

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

vmware spring for apache kafka2.8.1 and later · up to 2.9.10 inclusive
vmware spring for apache kafka3.0.0 and later · up to 3.0.9 inclusive

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (vmware). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

Spring Spring For Apache Kafka
- 2.8.x and later · before 2.9.11affected · 2.9.11
- 2.9.x and later · before 2.9.11affected · 2.9.11
- 3.0.x and later · before 3.0.10affected · 3.0.10

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

Ecosystem	Package	Affected range	Fix
Maven	org.springframework.kafka:spring-kafka	from 2.8.1 · before 2.9.11	2.9.11
Maven	org.springframework.kafka:spring-kafka	from 3.0.0 · before 3.0.10	3.0.10

Same product

vmware: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

CVE-2026-41731In Spring for Apache Kafka, overly broad trusted-package matching in header mappers exposes JDK classes to deserialization
32Monitor
CVE-2026-59317In Spring for Apache Kafka, missing header validation in DeadLetterPublishingRecovererFactory enables denial of service via a poison-pill loop
26Monitor
CVE-2026-59278In Spring for Apache Kafka, SSRF via DNS resolution triggered by untrusted java.net types in header mapper default trusted packages
26Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

Later →CVE-2026-41726Jun 9, 2026 · In Spring for Apache Kafka, unbounded delegate cache keyed on user-controlled, potentially malicious selector header
26Monitor
Later →CVE-2026-41727Jun 9, 2026 · In Spring for Apache Kafka, forged retry topic headers subvert retry routing and backoff behavior
26Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / package	Fixed version	Source
Spring Spring For Apache Kafka	2.9.11	Vendor (CNA)
Spring Spring For Apache Kafka	3.0.10	Vendor (CNA)
Maven:org.springframework.kafka:spring-kafka	2.9.11	Package registry (OSV)
Maven:org.springframework.kafka:spring-kafka	3.0.10	Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

Proof of concept available

A public proof of concept or detection signature exists. Exploit knowledge is out there; don't delay patching.

Evidence

Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×4

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
Source	Kind	Date
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub	stars:46	2023-08-30
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub	stars:31	2023-09-28
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub	stars:0	2024-04-24
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub	stars:1	2024-05-27

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

PublishedAug 24, 2023
First PoCAug 30, 2023+6 d
TodayOct 29, 2026+1162 d

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
A low-privileged account is enough.
No user action is required.
No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality: high · data can be read
Integrity: high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability: high · the service can be disrupted

Attack vector: Local
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: Low
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality impact: High
Integrity impact: High
Availability impact: High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-502 · Deserialization of Untrusted Data

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Root cause

Data received over the network is deserialized into the language’s native object format without verifying its source. Code paths inside the object can be triggered during deserialization.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-502 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

python

1payload = sock.recv(65536)
2job = pickle.loads(payload)

Fixed

python

1payload = sock.recv(65536)
2if not hmac.compare_digest(sign(payload), header_sig):
3    raise PermissionError("invalid signature")
4job = JobSchema.validate(json.loads(payload))

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Attack patterns (CAPEC)

Object InjectionCAPEC-586likelihood: Medium · High

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

Fix✗ → ✓Sep 28, 2026, 10:11 PM UTC

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

spring.io/security/cve-2023-34040

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records