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Spring SecurityFramework / library · VMware

CVE-2023-34042

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.8.7 / 6.0.7 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
The spring-security.xsd file inside the spring-security-config jar is world writable which means that if it were extracted it could be written by anyone with access to the file system. While there are no known exploits, this is an example of “CWE-732: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource” and could result in an exploit. Users should update to the latest version of Spring Security to mitigate any future exploits found around this issue.

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 · moderate confidence

The spring-security.xsd file distributed within the spring-security-config JAR has world-writable permissions (666), allowing any local user to modify this critical resource. This is CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource), where the XSD file's overly permissive file system permissions could be exploited if extracted from the JAR.

MitigationUsers should update to the latest version of Spring Security to ensure the spring-security.xsd file has appropriate restrictive permissions and mitigate any potential future exploits.

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 SecurityFramework / library
Affected:>= 5.8.4, < 5.8.7>= 6.0.4, < 6.0.7>= 6.1.1, < 6.1.4= 5.7.9= 5.7.10

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Locate spring-security-config JAR
    Search the application classpath and library directories for spring-security-config JAR files, typically found in WEB-INF/lib or build artifacts
    Affected if JAR is present and version cannot yet be determined
  2. Determine Spring Security version
    Examine the JAR manifest (META-INF/MANIFEST.MF), pom.xml dependencies, or use a build tool command like 'mvn dependency:list' to identify the installed Spring Security version
    Affected if Version falls in ranges: >=5.8.4 <5.8.7, >=6.0.4 <6.0.7, >=6.1.1 <6.1.4, =5.7.9, =5.7.10
  3. Extract spring-security.xsd from JAR
    Use jar tf to list contents, then jar xf to extract spring-security.xsd from the spring-security-config JAR (path is typically org/springframework/security/validation/schemas/spring-security.xsd inside the JAR)
    Affected if File extraction succeeds and file exists in JAR
  4. Check file permissions on spring-security.xsd
    Run 'ls -la' on the extracted spring-security.xsd file and inspect the permission bits (the last three digits in the file mode)
    Affected if File shows write permission for others (last digit is 6, indicating rw-rw-rw-)

User is affected if the installed Spring Security version is in the listed affected ranges AND the extracted spring-security.xsd file has world-writable (666) permissions.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.8.7 / 6.0.7 / 6.1.4 or later
Fixed in 5.8.76.0.76.1.4
Interim mitigation

Users should update to the latest version of Spring Security to ensure the spring-security.xsd file has appropriate restrictive permissions and mitigate any potential future exploits.

Recommended fix High confidence

5.8.7, 6.0.7, 6.1.4, or later (choose based on your current major.minor branch)

  1. Identify the current Spring Security version in use by checking pom.xml, build.gradle, or the spring-security-config jar manifest
  2. For Spring Security 5.7.x: upgrade to version 5.8.7 or later
  3. For Spring Security 5.8.x: upgrade to version 5.8.7 or later
  4. For Spring Security 6.0.x: upgrade to version 6.0.7 or later
  5. For Spring Security 6.1.x: upgrade to version 6.1.4 or later
  6. Rebuild and redeploy the application
  7. Verify the upgrade by checking that the spring-security.xsd file in the spring-security-config jar has correct permissions (not world-writable)
Caveat Upgrading within the same major.minor version should be low risk; however, review Spring Security release notes for any behavior changes between your current version and the target version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Spring Security Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

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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-2023-34042 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