expression-language-injection

expression-language-injection is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from DorianGallo/hack-skills-local. It costs 45 tokens per session (2,327 once invoked), scanned A, a copy of expression-language-injection, MIT.

A security guide for finding and assessing expression-language injection in Java systems such as Spring or Struts2. This attack happens when an application evaluates input supplied by an attacker as code-like expressions.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it when reviewing Java applications that evaluate SpEL, OGNL, or Java EL expressions. It covers detection probes, differences between the expression languages, and related attack paths.
Why use it?
It helps distinguish this risk from server-side template injection and shows how unsafe expression evaluation can expose application objects or lead to larger attacks.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Written for no agent in particular: nothing here depends on one.

Good fit Use it when reviewing Java applications that evaluate SpEL, OGNL, or Java EL expressions. It covers detection probes, differences between the expression languages, and related attack paths.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/doriangallo/hack-skills-local/expression-language-injection
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add DorianGallo/hack-skills-local --skill expression-language-injection
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/DorianGallo/hack-skills-local

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for expression-language-injection

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/doriangallo/hack-skills-local/expression-language-injection/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/doriangallo/hack-skills-local/expression-language-injection)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/doriangallo/hack-skills-local/expression-language-injection"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/doriangallo/hack-skills-local/expression-language-injection/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

agentmods 80×15 button for expression-language-injection

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/doriangallo/hack-skills-local/expression-language-injection"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/doriangallo/hack-skills-local/expression-language-injection.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 45 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 2,327 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin 100% copy Near-identical to another mod in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00045 $0.02327
Opus 5 $0.00023 $0.01163
Sonnet 5 $0.00009 $0.00465
Haiku 4.5 $0.00005 $0.00233

Measured 9d ago against content hash dd96ba349b08, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-09, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

expression-language-injection scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 9d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

Origin

This is a copy

100% identical to expression-language-injection — 0 lines differ, which has more behind it and is treated as the original. This page carries a canonical link to it rather than competing with it.

skills/expression-language-injection/SKILL.md · 244 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 244 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

SKILL: Expression Language Injection — Expert Attack Playbook

AI LOAD INSTRUCTION: Expert EL injection techniques covering SpEL (Spring), OGNL (Struts2), and Java EL (JSP/JSF). Distinct from SSTI — EL injection targets expression evaluators in Java frameworks, not template engines. Covers sandbox bypass, _memberAccess manipulation, actuator abuse, and real-world CVE chains.

Key distinction: SSTI targets template rendering engines; EL injection targets expression evaluators embedded in Java frameworks. They share detection probes (${7*7}) but diverge in exploitation.


1. DETECTION — POLYGLOT PROBES

${7*7}              → 49 = SpEL, OGNL, or Java EL
#{7*7}              → 49 = SpEL (alternative syntax) or JSF EL
%{7*7}              → 49 = OGNL (Struts2)
${T(java.lang.Math).random()}  → random float = SpEL confirmed
%{#context}         → object dump = OGNL confirmed

Disambiguation

Response to ${7*7} Response to %{7*7} Engine
49 literal %{7*7} SpEL or Java EL
literal ${7*7} 49 OGNL (Struts2)
49 49 Both may be active

2. SpEL (SPRING EXPRESSION LANGUAGE)

Where SpEL Appears

  • @Value("${...}") annotations
  • Spring Security expressions (@PreAuthorize)
  • Spring Cloud Gateway route predicates and filters
  • Thymeleaf th:text="${...}" (when combined with __${...}__ preprocessing)
  • Spring Data @Query with SpEL

RCE via Runtime.exec

${T(java.lang.Runtime).getRuntime().exec("id")}

RCE with Output Capture (Commons IO)

${T(org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils).toString(T(java.lang.Runtime).getRuntime().exec("id").getInputStream())}

RCE with Output Capture (Spring StreamUtils)

Read the full file on GitHub · 244 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 9d ago First seen · 244 lines · 45 tokens per session scan A dd96ba349b08

Subscribe to this mod's changes

expression-language-injection is a skill published in the GitHub repository DorianGallo/hack-skills-local (5 stars, last pushed 3mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 45 tokens to every session and 2,327 once invoked, about $0.0002 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. It is 100% identical to expression-language-injection, differing in 0 lines, and is treated as a copy.

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