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Spring FrameworkFramework / library · VMware

CVE-2016-5007

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-05-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Both Spring Security 3.2.x, 4.0.x, 4.1.0 and the Spring Framework 3.2.x, 4.0.x, 4.1.x, 4.2.x rely on URL pattern mappings for authorization and for mapping requests to controllers respectively. Differences in the strictness of the pattern matching mechanisms, for example with regards to space trimming in path segments, can lead Spring Security to not recognize certain paths as not protected that are in fact mapped to Spring MVC controllers that should be protected. The problem is compounded by the fact that the Spring Framework provides richer features with regards to pattern matching as well as by the fact that pattern matching in each Spring Security and the Spring Framework can easily be customized creating additional differences.

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

Spring Security and Spring Framework use different URL pattern matching mechanisms for authorization and request routing respectively. Spring Framework's more flexible pattern matching (including space trimming in path segments) can cause paths to be mapped to protected controllers while Spring Security doesn't recognize them as protected, allowing unauthorized access to resources that should be restricted.

MitigationUpdate to Spring Security 4.1.1+ and Spring Framework 4.2+ which contain fixes for this pattern matching discrepancy, and review all URL security patterns to ensure they align with MVC route mappings.

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
Spring FrameworkFramework / library
Affected:= 3.2.1= 3.2.2= 3.2.3= 3.2.4= 3.2.5= 3.2.6= 3.2.7= 3.2.8= 3.2.9= 3.2.10= 3.2.11= 3.2.12
Spring SecurityFramework / library
Affected:= 3.2.0= 3.2.1= 3.2.2= 3.2.3= 3.2.4= 3.2.5= 3.2.6= 3.2.7= 3.2.8= 3.2.9= 3.2.10= 4.0.0
Spring FrameworkFramework / library
Affected:= 3.2.0= 4.0.0= 4.1.0= 4.2.0

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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

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 Framework version
    Check your project's dependencies (pom.xml, build.gradle) or the spring-core JAR manifest for the exact Spring Framework version number
    Affected if The installed version matches any of: VMware Spring Framework 3.2.1-3.2.12, Pivotal Spring Framework 3.2.0, 4.0.0, 4.1.0, or 4.2.0
  2. Identify Spring Security version
    Check your project's dependencies (pom.xml, build.gradle) or the spring-security-core JAR manifest for the exact Spring Security version number
    Affected if The installed version matches any of: VMware Spring Security 3.2.0-4.0.0
  3. Confirm Spring Security URL authorization is configured
    Inspect your Spring Security configuration XML (typically security-context.xml) or Java configuration for <intercept-url> elements or RequestMatcher-based authorization rules that protect specific URL patterns
    Affected if URL authorization patterns are defined using Ant-style path matching or specific URL patterns that could be interpreted differently by Spring MVC routing vs Spring Security filter
  4. Check for MVC controller mappings vulnerable to pattern mismatch
    Review your Spring MVC controller mappings (via @RequestMapping, @GetMapping, @PostMapping annotations) and compare them against your Spring Security <intercept-url> access attributes. Look for paths where the controller receives the request but Security does not protect it due to pattern interpretation differences
    Affected if Your application has protected controllers mapped to URLs where the security filter uses a different pattern interpretation than the MVC handler mapping (especially with path segments containing spaces or special characters)
  5. Verify pattern matching behavior
    Test URLs with trailing spaces or encoded spaces (e.g., /admin/secret, /admin/secret%20, /admin/%20secret) against endpoints that should be protected. Check if the Spring Security filter blocks requests that Spring MVC successfully routes to controllers
    Affected if Requests with spaces in URL paths are routed to controllers that Spring Security allows without authentication due to pattern matching discrepancy

You are affected if your environment runs any combination of the listed vulnerable Spring Framework and Spring Security versions AND uses Spring Security URL authorization rules protecting MVC controller endpoints, where the URL pattern matching interpretation differs between the framework and security layers.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update to Spring Security 4.1.1+ and Spring Framework 4.2+ which contain fixes for this pattern matching discrepancy, and review all URL security patterns to ensure they align with MVC route mappings.

Fix this in Spring Framework Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2016-5007 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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