GHSA-7cj4-gj8m-m2f7 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Improper Authentication vulnerability in org.apache.shiro:shiro-spring. A fix is available for org.apache.shiro:shiro-spring — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Authentication bypass in Apache Shiro
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-7cj4-gj8m-m2f7 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 377,166 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.apache.shiro:shiro-springReal-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
Apache Shiro before 1.7.0, when using Apache Shiro with Spring, a specially crafted HTTP request may cause an authentication bypass.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.shiro:shiro-spring | all versions | 1.7.0org.apache.shiro:shiro-spring:1.7.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.shiro:shiro-spring, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.shiro:shiro-spring to 1.7.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-7cj4-gj8m-m2f7 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-7cj4-gj8m-m2f7 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-7cj4-gj8m-m2f7. 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.
Whilst the OpenDaylight version that is included in Red Hat OpenStack Platform includes the affected code, the vulnerable function is not used and therefore not exploitable.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Fuse 7.9 | shiro-core | RHSA-2021:3140 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-7cj4-gj8m-m2f7 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-7cj4-gj8m-m2f7 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.