CVE-2021-22112Network attack vector

Privilege extension via stale SecurityContext persistence

Published Feb 23, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Privilege escalation in affected Spring Security releases allows remote authenticated users to retain elevated session privileges. SecurityContextPersistenceFilter can save the first pre-commit SecurityContext to HttpSession while failing to persist a second change after response commitment. The application must program both context changes within one request; the stale elevated context then extends access beyond its intended scope.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability3.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in affected Spring Security releases allows remote authenticated users to retain elevated session privileges. SecurityContextPersistenceFilter can save the first pre-commit SecurityContext to HttpSession while failing to persist a second change after response commitment. The application must program both context changes within one request; the stale elevated context then extends access beyond its intended scope.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-22112
Published
Feb 23, 2021
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
Spring
Product
Spring Security
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 23, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.4.x prior to 5.4.4, 5.3.x prior to 5.3.8.RELEASE, 5.2.x prior to 5.2.9.RELEASE

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Spring · Spring Securityversion=5.4.x prior to 5.4.4, 5.3.x prior to 5.3.8.RELEASE, 5.2.x prior to 5.2.9.RELEASE

Published CVSS scores

8.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
9.0NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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