CVE-2016-9879
An issue was discovered in Pivotal Spring Security before 3.2.10, 4.1.x before 4.1.4, and 4.2.x before 4.2.1. Spring Security does not…
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Description
An issue was discovered in Pivotal Spring Security before 3.2.10, 4.1.x before 4.1.4, and 4.2.x before 4.2.1. Spring Security does not consider URL path parameters when processing security constraints. By adding a URL path parameter with an encoded "/" to a request, an attacker may be able to bypass a security constraint. The root cause of this issue is a lack of clarity regarding the handling of path parameters in the Servlet Specification. Some Servlet containers include path parameters in the value returned for getPathInfo() and some do not. Spring Security uses the value returned by getPathInfo() as part of the process of mapping requests to security constraints. The unexpected presence of path parameters can cause a constraint to be bypassed. Users of Apache Tomcat (all current versions) are not affected by this vulnerability since Tomcat follows the guidance previously provided by the Servlet Expert group and strips path parameters from the value returned by getContextPath(), getServletPath(), and getPathInfo(). Users of other Servlet containers based on Apache Tomcat may or may not be affected depending on whether or not the handling of path parameters has been modified. Users of IBM WebSphere Application Server 8.5.x are known to be affected. Users of other containers that implement the Servlet specification may be affected.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.0 | High7.5 | CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 1.5% · top 27% of all CVEs (2 Nov 2026)
Loading the EPSS history…
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.5.
Weakness
- Encoded "/" in path variables
- CWE-417 (opens in a new tab)
Affected products
Pivotal Spring Security before 3.2.10, 4.1.x before 4.1.4, and 4.2.x before 4.2.1
- affected Pivotal Spring Security before 3.2.10, 4.1.x before 4.1.4, and 4.2.x before 4.2.1
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- Mavenorg.springframework.security:spring-security-coreGHSA-v35c-49j6-q8hq (opens in a new tab)
References (3)
- RHSA-2017:1832 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATx_transferred
- 95142 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- https://pivotal.io/security/cve-2016-9879 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-v35c-49j6-q8hq (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Record last updated .