GeoServer is an open source server that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. Starting in version 2.10.0 and prior to versions 2.24.4 and 2.25.1, GeoServer's Server Status page and REST API lists all environment variables and Java properties to any GeoServer user with administrative rights as part of those modules' status message. These variables/properties can also contain sensitive information, such as database passwords or API keys/tokens. Additionally, many community-developed GeoServer container images export other credentials from their start-up scripts as environment variables to the GeoServer (java) process. The precise scope of the issue depends on which container image is used and how it is configured.
The about status API endpoint which powers the Server Status page is only available to administrators.Depending on the operating environment, administrators might have legitimate access to credentials in other ways, but this issue defeats more sophisticated controls (like break-glass access to secrets or role accounts).By default, GeoServer only allows same-origin authenticated API access. This limits the scope for a third-party attacker to use an administrator’s credentials to gain access to credentials. The researchers who found the vulnerability were unable to determine any other conditions under which the GeoServer REST API may be available more broadly.
Users should update container images to use GeoServer 2.24.4 or 2.25.1 to get the bug fix. As a workaround, leave environment variables and Java system properties hidden by default. Those who provide the option to re-enable it should communicate the impact and risks so that users can make an informed choice.
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (4.5): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 4.5 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 4.5 MEDIUMCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
- EG Likelihood
- 0.4% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-31). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at every mission impact level.CISA BOD 26-04: 60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at every mission impact level.
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.
The score's inputs: In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it