CVE-2024-22257
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 · uneditedIn Spring Security, versions 5.7.x prior to 5.7.12, 5.8.x prior to 5.8.11, versions 6.0.x prior to 6.0.9, versions 6.1.x prior to 6.1.8, versions 6.2.x prior to 6.2.3, an application is possible vulnerable to broken access control when it directly uses the AuthenticatedVoter#vote passing a null Authentication parameter.
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's AuthenticatedVoter#vote method improperly handles null Authentication parameters, allowing attackers to bypass access control checks. When an application directly uses this voter with a null Authentication object, the vote method returns a permissive result instead of properly denying access, leading to broken access control.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- High
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Check your Spring Security versionInspect your project's dependency management file (pom.xml, build.gradle, package.json for Node, or similar) for the spring-security-core or spring-security-config version. Also check any compiled JAR manifest files if available.Affected if The version is 5.7.x before 5.7.12, 5.8.x before 5.8.11, 6.0.x before 6.0.9, 6.1.x before 6.1.8, or 6.2.x before 6.2.3 (the patched versions are 5.7.12+, 5.8.11+, 6.0.9+, 6.1.8+, 6.2.3+).
-
Identify AuthenticatedVoter usage in your codeSearch your codebase for imports and references to org.springframework.security.access.vote.AuthenticatedVoter or org.springframework.security.access.AccessDecisionVoter. Look for any direct instantiation or programmatic usage beyond standard Spring Security configuration.Affected if AuthenticatedVoter is directly instantiated or used in custom authorization logic rather than through standard Spring Security configuration namespaces.
-
Search for direct vote() method callsSearch your codebase for any calls to the vote() method on AccessDecisionVoter implementations, particularly where an Authentication object might be passed as null. Look for patterns like voter.vote(null, ...).Affected if Your code explicitly calls vote() with a null Authentication parameter.
-
Review custom AccessDecisionManager configurationInspect your Spring configuration files (XML, Java config, or annotation-based) for any custom AccessDecisionManager bean definitions that manually compose AccessDecisionVoter instances including AuthenticatedVoter.Affected if A custom AccessDecisionManager is configured that directly uses AuthenticatedVoter outside of standard Spring Security role-based access control.
You are affected if your application uses a vulnerable Spring Security version AND directly invokes AuthenticatedVoter or passes null Authentication to AccessDecisionVoter vote methods.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade Spring Security to version 5.7.12+, 5.8.11+, 6.0.9+, 6.1.8+, or 6.2.3+ to receive the patch. Review any direct usage of AuthenticatedVoter#vote and ensure null Authentication objects are not passed.
Upgrade to Spring Security 5.7.12, 5.8.11, 6.0.9, 6.1.8, or 6.2.3 depending on your current version branch
- Identify your current Spring Security version from your project's build configuration (pom.xml for Maven or build.gradle for Gradle)
- Determine which version branch you are currently on (5.7.x, 5.8.x, 6.0.x, 6.1.x, or 6.2.x)
- Update the Spring Security version in your build configuration to the appropriate fixed version: 5.7.12 for 5.7.x, 5.8.11 for 5.8.x, 6.0.9 for 6.0.x, 6.1.8 for 6.1.x, or 6.2.3 for 6.2.x
- For Maven, update the version in the spring-security-core dependency section
- For Gradle, update the version in the implementation 'org.springframework.security:spring-security-core' line
- Run your build to verify the upgrade completes successfully
- Run your test suite to verify no regressions in authorization behavior
- If using AuthenticatedVoter directly in your code, review that you are not passing null Authentication parameters to the vote method
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,096.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-22257 — 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-2024-22257 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
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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