CVE-2016-9879

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Summary

CVECVE-2016-9879
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerdell
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2017-01-06 22:59:00 UTC
Updated2026-05-06 22:30:45 UTC
DescriptionAn 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.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.0 7.5 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

EPSS: 0.003220000 probability, percentile 0.552490000 (date 2026-05-11)

Problem Types: CWE-417 | Encoded "/" in path variables

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.0[email protected]Primary7.5HIGHCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
2.0[email protected]Primary5AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

CVSS v3.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CVSS v2.0 Breakdown

Access Vector
Network
Access Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Partial
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.0.0 All All All
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.0.1 All All All
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.0.2 All All All
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.5.0 All All All
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.5.1 All All All
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.5.2 All All All
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.5.3 All All All
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.5.4 All All All
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.5.5 All All All
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.5.6 All All All
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.5.7 All All All
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.5.8 All All All
Application Ibm Websphere Application Server 8.5.5.9 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 3.2.0 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 3.2.1 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 3.2.2 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 3.2.3 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 3.2.4 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 3.2.5 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 3.2.6 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 3.2.7 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 3.2.8 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 3.2.9 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 4.1.0 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 4.1.1 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 4.1.2 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 4.1.3 All All All
Application Vmware Spring Security 4.2.0 All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Na 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 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
Pivotal Spring Security CVE-2016-9879 Security Bypass Vulnerability af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securityfocus.com
Red Hat Customer Portal af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 access.redhat.com
CVE-2016-9879 Encoded "/" in path variables | Security | Pivotal af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 pivotal.io Mailing List, Vendor Advisory
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Legacy QID Mappings

  • 980544 Java (maven) Security Update for org.springframework.security:spring-security-core (GHSA-v35c-49j6-q8hq)
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