GHSA-q62h-354g-5r85: Steeltoe's env sanitizer misses connection strings — leaks embedded DB passwords
Summary
The Sanitizer component in the Environment actuator redacts configuration values by matching the configuration key name against a suffix list. The default list (password, secret, key, token, .*credentials.*, vcap_services) does not cover the standard .NET pattern ConnectionStrings:<name> or Steeltoe Connectors' Steeltoe:Client:<type>:Default:ConnectionString. There is no value-based scrubbing, so full connection string values including embedded Password= and user:pass@host segments are returned verbatim in /actuator/env responses.
Impact
Any caller who can reach /actuator/env can receive connection strings containing plaintext credentials. Those credentials enable direct connection to the backing database, bypassing the application tier.
Affected configuration
- Application configuration contains credentials in ConnectionStrings:* or *:ConnectionString keys.
- On standard deployments: env is added to Management:Endpoints:Actuator:Exposure:Include. This is not the default.
- On Cloud Foundry: the /cloudfoundryapplication/env path is accessible to any authenticated CF user with read_basic_data permissions (Space Auditor and above) regardless of the exposure configuration.
Mitigations
If an immediate upgrade is not possible:
- On the standard path, remove env from the actuator exposure list.
- Add .*connectionstring.* to KeysToSanitize as a defense-in-depth measure for both paths.
- Require authorization on actuator endpoints.
Details
Original advisory: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-q62h-354g-5r85
Exploitation outlook
EPSS (FIRST.org) estimates each CVE’s probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — here is the CSIRTS.com read on those numbers.
- Low exploitation riskCVE-2026-502000.18% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 8% of all scored CVEs.
Referenced CVEs
| CVE | CSIRTS overview | External |
|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-50200 | coverage & exploitation status | NVD · CVE.org |
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