CVE-2025-22223 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) CWE-290 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.
Spring Security Vulnerable to Authorization Bypass via Security Annotations
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- 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-2025-22223.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
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
Spring Security 6.4.0 - 6.4.3 may not correctly locate method security annotations on parameterized types or methods. This may cause an authorization bypass.
You are not affected if you are not using @EnableMethodSecurity, or you do not have method security annotations on parameterized types or methods, or all method security annotations are attached to target methods
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.springframework.security:spring-security-core | ≥ 6.4.0&&< 6.4.4 | 6.4.4org.springframework.security:spring-security-core:6.4.4 |
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 6.4.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-22223 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2025-22223 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.