Description
Using untrusted, non-normalized input as-is for metrics data (such as metric names, tag keys, or tag values) is a dangerous antipattern that general-purpose instrumentation should never perform.
Micrometer 1.17.0
Micrometer 1.16.0 - 1.16.6
Micrometer 1.15.0 - 1.15.12
Micrometer 1.14.0 - 1.14.16
Micrometer 1.9.18 and earlier
Published: 2026-08-21
Score: 5.9 Medium
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: Metric and Log Spoofing
Action: Apply Patch
AI Analysis

Impact

Using untrusted, non‑normalized input as‑is for metrics data—such as metric names, tag keys, or tag values—is a dangerous antipattern that general‑purpose instrumentation should never perform. In Micrometer, when such input is passed freely, newline or carriage‑return characters can be injected into the StatsD line protocol or log output. This allows an attacker to break expected line boundaries, creating forged metric definitions or arbitrary log lines that can be interpreted as legitimate by downstream collectors, dashboards, or alerting systems. The vulnerability affects Micrometer releases 1.17.0, 1.16.0–1.16.6, 1.15.0–1.15.12, 1.14.0–1.14.16, and any version 1.9.18 or earlier.

Affected Systems

The vulnerability targets Spring Micrometer products, specifically the micrometer‑registry‑statsd and micrometer‑core libraries. All releases that lack newline sanitization are affected. Applications that employ the Datadog or Etsy flavors of the StatsD registry or the LoggingMeterRegistry and use user‑controlled data for metric names, tag keys, or tag values are directly at risk.

Risk and Exploitability

The CVSS score of 5.9 places the flaw in the medium‑severity range. The EPSS score of < 1% indicates a very low exploitation probability, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. The likely attack vector, inferred from the CVE title and CWE identifiers, involves the injection of newline or carriage‑return characters into metric names, tag keys, or tag values supplied by an attacker. This can subvert metric namespaces or log content, resulting in misleading dashboards, false alarms, or cover‑up of malicious actions.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on August 28, 2026 at 20:21 UTC.

Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Upgrade micrometer‑registry‑statsd and micrometer‑core to the latest releases that sanitize newline characters
  • Validate or sanitize all user‑controlled inputs used as metric names, tag keys, or tag values, ensuring that any \n or \r characters are removed or escaped
  • If an immediate upgrade is impossible, replace the StatsD or LoggingMeterRegistry components with a safer equivalent and actively monitor log files for suspicious entries

Generated by OpenCVE AI on August 28, 2026 at 20:21 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories

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History

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Using untrusted, non-normalized input as-is for metrics data (such as metric names, tag keys, or tag values) is a dangerous antipattern that general-purpose instrumentation should never perform. When such unsafe instrumentation is used, the application becomes vulnerable to injection and spoofing attacks because micrometer-registry-statsd and micrometer-core do not sanitize newline characters (\n, \r) by default prior to this fix. * For the StatsD registry in micrometer-registry-statsd (when using the Datadog or Etsy flavor), because the StatsD protocol is newline-delimited, this allows for line-protocol injection (cross-metric spoofing). * For LoggingMeterRegistry in micrometer-core, because metric output is printed line-by-line to log files, this allows for both metric spoofing (if downstream log-metrics scrapers or parsers ingest the log lines as separate metrics) and general log spoofing. Specifically, an application is vulnerable when all the following are true: * The application uses a vulnerable version of io.micrometer:micrometer-registry-statsd or io.micrometer:micrometer-core. * The application uses the Datadog or Etsy flavor of the StatsD registry, or uses LoggingMeterRegistry. * The application instruments meters using user-controlled, unvalidated input for metric names, tag keys, or tag values. When vulnerable, an attacker can break out of the current metric or log line by injecting line terminators. This allows them to spoof arbitrary metrics (e.g., system load, standard JVM metrics, or other business metrics) across the metrics registry namespace (either directly via StatsD protocol or via downstream log-metric scrapers/parsers), as well as inject arbitrary log entries to spoof general log records. Using untrusted, non-normalized input as-is for metrics data (such as metric names, tag keys, or tag values) is a dangerous antipattern that general-purpose instrumentation should never perform. Micrometer 1.17.0 Micrometer 1.16.0 - 1.16.6 Micrometer 1.15.0 - 1.15.12 Micrometer 1.14.0 - 1.14.16 Micrometer 1.9.18 and earlier

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 12:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-93
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

threat_severity

Moderate


Fri, 21 Aug 2026 20:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-20
CWE-532

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 17:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-74

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Spring
Spring micrometer
Vendors & Products Spring
Spring micrometer

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-20
CWE-532

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Fri, 21 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Using untrusted, non-normalized input as-is for metrics data (such as metric names, tag keys, or tag values) is a dangerous antipattern that general-purpose instrumentation should never perform. When such unsafe instrumentation is used, the application becomes vulnerable to injection and spoofing attacks because micrometer-registry-statsd and micrometer-core do not sanitize newline characters (\n, \r) by default prior to this fix. * For the StatsD registry in micrometer-registry-statsd (when using the Datadog or Etsy flavor), because the StatsD protocol is newline-delimited, this allows for line-protocol injection (cross-metric spoofing). * For LoggingMeterRegistry in micrometer-core, because metric output is printed line-by-line to log files, this allows for both metric spoofing (if downstream log-metrics scrapers or parsers ingest the log lines as separate metrics) and general log spoofing. Specifically, an application is vulnerable when all the following are true: * The application uses a vulnerable version of io.micrometer:micrometer-registry-statsd or io.micrometer:micrometer-core. * The application uses the Datadog or Etsy flavor of the StatsD registry, or uses LoggingMeterRegistry. * The application instruments meters using user-controlled, unvalidated input for metric names, tag keys, or tag values. When vulnerable, an attacker can break out of the current metric or log line by injecting line terminators. This allows them to spoof arbitrary metrics (e.g., system load, standard JVM metrics, or other business metrics) across the metrics registry namespace (either directly via StatsD protocol or via downstream log-metric scrapers/parsers), as well as inject arbitrary log entries to spoof general log records.
Title Micrometer StatsD and Logging meter registries line-protocol and log injection vulnerability
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N'}


Subscriptions

Spring Micrometer
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: vmware

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-27T17:57:53.054Z

Reserved: 2026-07-04T18:13:34.323Z

Link: CVE-2026-59296

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-08-21T11:55:35.874Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2026-08-21T11:17:05.780

Modified: 2026-08-28T18:47:30.163

Link: CVE-2026-59296

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2026-08-21T10:47:25Z

Links: CVE-2026-59296 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-08-28T20:30:08Z

Weaknesses
  • CWE-74

    Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')

  • CWE-93

    Improper Neutralization of CRLF Sequences ('CRLF Injection')