CVE-2025-3984
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 · uneditedA vulnerability was found in Apereo CAS 5.2.6 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is the function saveService of the file cas-5.2.6\webapp-mgmt\cas-management-webapp-support\src\main\java\org\apereo\cas\mgmt\services\web\RegisteredServiceSimpleFormController.java of the component Groovy Code Handler. The manipulation leads to code injection. The attack may be launched remotely. The complexity of an attack is rather high. The exploitation is known to be difficult. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. The vendor was contacted early about this disclosure but did not respond in any way.
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 confidenceA code injection vulnerability exists in Apereo CAS 5.2.6 where the saveService function in RegisteredServiceSimpleFormController.java processes user input through the Groovy Code Handler without proper sanitization, allowing remote attackers to inject and execute arbitrary Groovy code.
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= 5.2.6CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/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 Apereo CAS versionLocate the cas.war or cas directory and check the version.properties or build.gradle file, typically found in /cas/WEB-INF/lib/cas-server-core-*.jar or the build configuration. Run: java -jar cas.war --version or check the welcome page footer.Affected if The installed version is exactly 5.2.6
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Confirm service management interface is enabledCheck the cas.properties or application.properties file for 'cas.serviceRegistry.init=true' and verify the management web application is deployed. Look for managementServletContext in the deployerConfigContext.xml.Affected if The service management interface (cas-management) is enabled and accessible
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Verify Groovy Code Handler is configuredExamine the registered service JSON/XML definition files in the services directory (typically in /etc/cas/services). Look for service entries containing 'groovy' in the 'evaluationHandler' or 'accessStrategy' type, or any service with a Groovy-based attribute or response script.Affected if Any registered service uses the Groovy Code Handler for evaluating attributes, responses, or service registration rules
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Confirm access to RegisteredServiceSimpleFormControllerVerify the /cas/manage/v1/services endpoint or similar service management endpoints are accessible. Check the web.xml or security configuration for URL patterns mapped to RegisteredServiceSimpleFormController.Affected if The service management endpoint that processes service definitions via saveService is accessible to the user
A user is affected if running Apereo CAS 5.2.6 with the service management interface enabled and a registered service configured to use the Groovy Code Handler, allowing unauthenticated or authenticated users to inject arbitrary Groovy code through the saveService function.
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 dataUpgrade to a patched version of Apereo CAS; if unavailable, disable or restrict the Groovy Code Handler in the service management interface and implement strict input validation to prevent untrusted input from being evaluated as executable code.
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- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-3984 — 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-2025-3984 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
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