CVE-2024-22233: Spring Framework Denial of Service Vulnerability Affecting Spring MVC and Spring Security Applications

A newly discovered vulnerability, CVE-2024-22233, has been identified in Spring Framework versions 6..15 and 6.1.2. This critical issue could allow an attacker to cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition through specially crafted HTTP requests. In this post, we will dive deeper into the details of this vulnerability, the affected systems, and ways to mitigate the risk posed by this issue.

Vulnerability Details

The CVE-2024-22233 vulnerability specifically affects applications when the following conditions are met:

* Spring Security 6.1.6+ or 6.2.1+ is on the classpath.

Usually, Spring Boot applications with the org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web and org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-security dependencies are susceptible to this vulnerability.

To better understand the vulnerability, let's look at a code snippet that demonstrates the issue

@RestController
public class ExampleController {
    @GetMapping(path = "/example")
    public ResponseEntity<String> exampleRequest(@RequestParam String parameter) {
        return ResponseEntity.ok("Hello, World!");
    }
}

@Configuration
@EnableWebSecurity
public class SecurityConfig extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter {
    @Override
    protected void configure(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
        http.authorizeRequests()
            .anyRequest().authenticated()
            .and()
            .formLogin();
    }
}

In the given example, the ExampleController has a single GET endpoint /example that accepts a query parameter called parameter. The SecurityConfig class defines the application's security configuration using Spring Security. With this setup, the application is vulnerable to the CVE-2024-22233 vulnerability.

Exploit details

An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted HTTP requests to the affected endpoints, potentially leading to a denial-of-service condition, causing the application to become unresponsive and affecting its availability. As of now, there are no known public exploits available for this vulnerability. However, given its critical nature, it is crucial for application developers and administrators to take immediate action and apply the necessary patches.

Original references

* The official Spring Security CVE announcement: https://spring.io/blog/2024/07/06/cve-2024-22233
* The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) entry for CVE-2024-22233: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-22233

Solution

The most effective way to mitigate the risks posed by CVE-2024-22233 is to update your Spring Framework and Spring Security dependencies to the latest versions that have patches addressing this vulnerability. Check the Spring Security release blog for the required fixes: https://spring.io/blog/category/releases

To update your application's dependencies, modify your Maven or Gradle build configuration files to include the following:

Maven

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
    <version>LATEST_VERSION_HERE</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-security</artifactId>
    <version>LATEST_VERSION_HERE</version>
</dependency>

Gradle

implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web:LATEST_VERSION_HERE'
implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-security:LATEST_VERSION_HERE'

Conclusion

The CVE-2024-22233 vulnerability presents a severe risk for applications using the Spring Framework and Spring Security. It is crucial to update your application's dependencies to ensure the safety and availability of your system. Always stay informed about the latest security advisories and take immediate action to apply the necessary patches and security measures.

Timeline

Published on: 01/22/2024 13:15:25 UTC
Last modified on: 01/29/2024 17:24:16 UTC