GHSA-3h6f-g5f3-gc4w — spring-security-config
CRITICALGHSA-3h6f-g5f3-gc4w is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.1) CWE-281 vulnerability in org.springframework.security:spring-security-config. A fix is available for org.springframework.security:spring-security-config — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Access Control Bypass in Spring Security
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.
- 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 GHSA-3h6f-g5f3-gc4w.
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
GHSA-3h6f-g5f3-gc4w 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 377,333 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-config☕org.springframework.security:spring-security-config☕org.springframework.security:spring-security-config☕org.springframework.security:spring-security-config☕org.springframework.security:spring-security-configReal-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
Using "**" as a pattern in Spring Security configuration for WebFlux creates a mismatch in pattern matching between Spring Security and Spring WebFlux, and the potential for a security bypass.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.springframework.security:spring-security-config | ≥ 5.6.0&&< 5.6.12 | 5.6.12org.springframework.security:spring-security-config:5.6.12 |
| ☕Maven | org.springframework.security:spring-security-config | ≥ 5.7.0&&< 5.7.10 | 5.7.10org.springframework.security:spring-security-config:5.7.10 |
| ☕Maven | org.springframework.security:spring-security-config | ≥ 5.8.0&&< 5.8.5 | 5.8.5org.springframework.security:spring-security-config:5.8.5 |
| ☕Maven | org.springframework.security:spring-security-config | ≥ 6.0.0&&< 6.0.5 | 6.0.5org.springframework.security:spring-security-config:6.0.5 |
| ☕Maven | org.springframework.security:spring-security-config | ≥ 6.1.0&&< 6.1.2 | 6.1.2org.springframework.security:spring-security-config:6.1.2 |
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-config, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.springframework.security:spring-security-config to 5.6.12 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-3h6f-g5f3-gc4w 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 GHSA-3h6f-g5f3-gc4w can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-3h6f-g5f3-gc4w. 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.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Fuse 7.12.1 | spring-security | RHSA-2023:7247 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-3h6f-g5f3-gc4w in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-3h6f-g5f3-gc4w across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.