Description

Spring Security in combination with Spring Framework 5.0.5.RELEASE contain an authorization bypass when using method security. An unauthorized malicious user can gain unauthorized access to methods that should be restricted.

Affected Spring Products and Versions

Spring Framework 5.0.5.RELEASE and Spring Security (any version)
Applications are only impacted if they use Spring Framework 5.0.5.RELEASE and Spring Security method security. The bug is present in Spring Framework 5.0.5.RELEASE, but is not considered a CVE unless combined with Spring Security’s method security support.
The bug is present only in Spring Framework 5.0.5.RELEASE. If the application does not use Spring Framework 5.0.5.RELEASE then it is not impacted. The bug does not impact any Spring Framework 4.x versions or any other versions of Spring Framework.

Mitigation

Users leveraging Spring Framework 5.x should avoid using Spring Framework 5.0.5.RELEASE. Updating to Spring Security 5.0.5.RELEASE+ or Spring Boot 2.0.2.RELEASE+ brings in Spring Framework 5.0.6.RELEASE+ transitively. However, users should be certain that other dependency management mechanisms are also updated to use Spring Framework 5.0.6.RELEASE or newer.
Users leveraging Spring Framework 4.x (Spring Security 4.x or Spring Boot 1.x) are not impacted so no steps are necessary.
There are no other mitigation steps required.

Credit

This issue was identified internally by the Spring Security Team.

History

2018-05-09: Initial vulnerability report published
2018-07-30: Clarifications on impacted versions

Reporting a vulnerability

The VMware Security Response team provides a single point of contact for the reporting of security vulnerabilities in VMware Tanzu products and coordinates the process of investigating any reported vulnerabilities.

To report a security vulnerability in a VMware service or product please refer to the VMware Security Response Policy.