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Springsource Spring SecurityFramework / library · VMware

CVE-2011-2731

MEDIUM · 5.1 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-12-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.0.5 or later.
See remediation →
60/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Race condition in the RunAsManager mechanism in VMware SpringSource Spring Security before 2.0.7 and 3.0.x before 3.0.6 stores the Authentication object in the shared security context, which allows attackers to gain privileges via a crafted thread.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A race condition exists in the RunAsManager mechanism of Spring Security where the Authentication object is stored in a shared (non-thread-local) security context. This allows an attacker to potentially inject a malicious thread that can access or hijack the Authentication object from another thread, achieving privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade Spring Security to version 2.0.7 or later (for the 2.x line) or 3.0.6 or later (for the 3.x line). The fix ensures the security context is properly maintained per-thread.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Springsource Spring SecurityFramework / library
Affected:<= 2.0.6<= 3.0.5= 2.0.0= 2.0.1= 2.0.2= 2.0.3= 2.0.4= 2.0.5= 3.0.0= 3.0.1= 3.0.2= 3.0.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Spring Security JAR version
    Locate the spring-security-core JAR file in your application's lib or dependency directory. Check the filename or manifest for the version (e.g., spring-security-core-2.0.x.jar or spring-security-core-3.0.x.jar). Alternatively, inspect your pom.xml, build.gradle, or dependency management file for the spring-security-core dependency version.
    Affected if The version is 2.0.6 or lower, or 3.0.5 or lower.
  2. Confirm RunAsManager is in use
    Search your Spring configuration files (applicationContext.xml, security-context.xml) for the element <security:http> with nested <security:intercept-url> having a run-as attribute, or look for bean definitions of type RunAsManager or RunAsUserDetailsService. Also check for @RunAs annotations in secured Java classes.
    Affected if RunAsManager or run-as authentication is configured and active in the application.
  3. Check security context implementation
    Examine your Spring Security configuration for the security context persistence mechanism. Look for a <security:http> element containing a <security:security-context-repository> or <security:security-context> definition. Verify if the context is stored in a thread-local manner (the fixed version uses ThreadLocalSecurityContextStrategy) versus a shared map or session-based repository.
    Affected if The security context repository uses a shared Map or HttpSession storage rather than per-thread ThreadLocal storage.
  4. Assess multi-threaded access risk
    Review your application code for any multi-threaded execution paths that process authenticated requests concurrently (e.g., async servlets, thread pools, scheduled tasks). Check whether multiple threads could access the same security context simultaneously.
    Affected if The application processes concurrent requests with authenticated users and has code paths that could trigger the race condition through RunAs authentication.

You are affected if your Spring Security version is 2.0.6 or earlier, or 3.0.5 or earlier, AND your application uses RunAsManager or run-as authentication in a multi-threaded environment where the security context is stored non-thread-locally.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.0.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Spring Security to version 2.0.7 or later (for the 2.x line) or 3.0.6 or later (for the 3.x line). The fix ensures the security context is properly maintained per-thread.

Fix this in Springsource Spring Security Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-2731 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data