CVE-2018-15758
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 · uneditedSpring Security OAuth, versions 2.3 prior to 2.3.4, and 2.2 prior to 2.2.3, and 2.1 prior to 2.1.3, and 2.0 prior to 2.0.16, and older unsupported versions could be susceptible to a privilege escalation under certain conditions. A malicious user or attacker can craft a request to the approval endpoint that can modify the previously saved authorization request and lead to a privilege escalation on the subsequent approval. This scenario can happen if the application is configured to use a custom approval endpoint that declares AuthorizationRequest as a controller method argument. This vulnerability exposes applications that meet all of the following requirements: Act in the role of an Authorization Server (e.g. @EnableAuthorizationServer) and use a custom Approval Endpoint that declares AuthorizationRequest as a controller method argument. This vulnerability does not expose applications that: Act in the role of an Authorization Server and use the default Approval Endpoint, act in the role of a Resource Server only (e.g. @EnableResourceServer), act in the role of a Client only (e.g. @EnableOAuthClient).
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 confidenceSpring Security OAuth contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where a malicious user can modify a previously saved authorization request by crafting a request to a custom approval endpoint that declares AuthorizationRequest as a controller method argument. This allows privilege escalation on subsequent approval in authorization servers.
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<= 1.0.5>= 2.0.0, < 2.0.16>= 2.1.0, < 2.1.3>= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3>= 2.3.0, < 2.3.4CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Spring Security OAuth version in useExamine your project's dependency management file (pom.xml, build.gradle, or gradle.lock) for the spring-security-oauth2-autoconfigure or spring-security-oauth dependency and note its versionAffected if The version falls within any of these ranges: <= 1.0.5, >= 2.0.0 and < 2.0.16, >= 2.1.0 and < 2.1.3, >= 2.2.0 and < 2.2.3, or >= 2.3.0 and < 2.3.4
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Locate custom approval endpoint controllersSearch your codebase for controller classes that handle approval endpoints, typically mapped to paths containing '/approve' or similar authorization approval handlersAffected if Custom approval controllers exist in the application
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Check for AuthorizationRequest method argumentsExamine any custom approval endpoint controller methods and look for method signatures that include 'AuthorizationRequest' as a parameter typeAffected if A controller method declares AuthorizationRequest as a method argument, for example: @RequestMapping("/oauth/authorize") public void approve(@ModelAttribute AuthorizationRequest authorizationRequest, ...)
You are affected if your application runs a vulnerable Spring Security OAuth version AND contains a custom approval endpoint that uses AuthorizationRequest as a controller method argument.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 data2.0.162.1.32.2.3
Upgrade to Spring Security OAuth 2.3.4+, 2.2.3+, 2.1.3+, or 2.0.16+ or refactor custom approval endpoints to not use AuthorizationRequest as a controller method argument.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-15758 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-15758 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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