Property accessors resolved via SpEL's ReflectivePropertyAccessor and DataBindingPropertyAccessor may be JavaBean-style accessors or plain accessor methods used to support data classes such as Java records and Kotlin data classes. However, neither accessor can determine, via reflection, whether such a method is a side-effect-free read or an action that happens to return a value. For example, File.delete() is a public method that returns a boolean and therefore looks like a plain "property". To better inform users, this commit updates the Javadoc for ReflectivePropertyAccessor, DataBindingPropertyAccessor, and SimpleEvaluationContext (as well as in the SpEL reference documentation) to clarify that restricting a SimpleEvaluationContext to read-only data binding governs only whether assignment to a property is permitted and does not guarantee that reading a property is free of side effects. The reference documentation's "Security Considerations" section now also defines what makes a method "accessor-shaped", with concrete examples of safe versus side-effecting methods that share that shape (for example, File.delete(), Queue.poll(), and AtomicInteger.incrementAndGet()). Building on that clarification, this commit introduces a new "Object Design" section to the SpEL reference documentation, analogous to the "Model Design" guidance for web data binding. This new section recommends that any object reachable from an untrusted SpEL expression (not only the root object) be a purpose-built, immutable type with a deliberately limited surface area, and that its accessor-shaped methods be audited for unsafe side effects. The new section also notes that reachability is transitive through both property navigation and indexing (for example, rootObject.child.grandchild or rootObject.items[0]). In any case, it remains the responsibility of the code that exposes a root object or other reachable object to an expression from an untrusted source to ensure that none of its accessor-shaped methods perform an unsafe action. Closes gh-37102
Spring Framework

This is the home of the Spring Framework: the foundation for all Spring projects. Collectively the Spring Framework and the family of Spring projects are often referred to simply as "Spring".
Spring provides everything required beyond the Java programming language for creating enterprise applications for a wide range of scenarios and architectures. Please read the Overview section of the reference documentation for a more complete introduction.
Code of Conduct
This project is governed by the Spring Code of Conduct. By participating, you are expected to uphold this code of conduct. Please report unacceptable behavior to spring-code-of-conduct@spring.io.
Access to Binaries
For access to artifacts or a distribution zip, see the Spring Framework Artifacts wiki page.
Documentation
The Spring Framework maintains reference documentation (published and source), GitHub wiki pages, and an API reference. There are also guides and tutorials across Spring projects.
Micro-Benchmarks
See the Micro-Benchmarks wiki page.
Build from Source
See the Build from Source wiki page and the CONTRIBUTING.md file.
Continuous Integration Builds
CI builds are defined with GitHub Actions workflows.
Stay in Touch
Follow @SpringCentral, @SpringFramework, and its team members on 𝕏. In-depth articles can be found at The Spring Blog, and releases are announced via our releases feed.
License
The Spring Framework is released under version 2.0 of the Apache License.