CVE-2024-22234 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.4) CWE-284 vulnerability in org.springframework.security:spring-security-core. A fix is available for org.springframework.security:spring-security-core — see the affected versions and patch details below.
CVE-2024-22234: Broken Access Control in Spring Security With Direct Use of isFullyAuthenticated
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-22234.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2024-22234 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,567 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.springframework.security:spring-security-core☕org.springframework.security:spring-security-coreReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
In Spring Security, versions 6.1.x prior to 6.1.7 and versions 6.2.x prior to 6.2.2, an application is vulnerable to broken access control when it directly uses the AuthenticationTrustResolver.isFullyAuthenticated(Authentication) method.
Specifically, an application is vulnerable if:
- The application uses AuthenticationTrustResolver.isFullyAuthenticated(Authentication) directly and a null authentication parameter is passed to it resulting in an erroneous true return value.
An application is not vulnerable if any of the following is true:
- The application does not use AuthenticationTrustResolver.isFullyAuthenticated(Authentication) directly.
- The application does not pass null to AuthenticationTrustResolver.isFullyAuthenticated
- The application only uses isFullyAuthenticated via Method Security https://docs.spring.io/spring-security/reference/servlet/authorization/method-security.html or HTTP Request Security https://docs.spring.io/spring-security/reference/servlet/authorization/authorize-http-requests.html
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.springframework.security:spring-security-core | ≥ 6.1.0&&< 6.1.7 | 6.1.7org.springframework.security:spring-security-core:6.1.7 |
| ☕Maven | org.springframework.security:spring-security-core | ≥ 6.2.0&&< 6.2.2 | 6.2.2org.springframework.security:spring-security-core:6.2.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.springframework.security:spring-security-core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.springframework.security:spring-security-core to 6.1.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-22234 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2024-22234 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-22234. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Red Hat considers this as a Moderate impact since it requires the malicious user to have knowledge of how a server implements the authentication resolver from Spring Security. A validation is also suggested to make sure there are no null parameters and no erroneous true is triggered from this method. An application is…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| HawtIO 4.0.0 for Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4 | spring-security | RHSA-2024:3550 |
| Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4.4.1 for Spring Boot 3.2 | see advisory | RHSA-2024:4884 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces 3 Containers | devspaces/pluginregistry-rhel8:3.16-16 | RHSA-2024:6667 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-22234 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-22234 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.