Resource Exhaustion in Spring Security

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

7.5 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS

• CVE-2021-22119: 6.00% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 93.34 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Spring Security versions 5.5.x prior to 5.5.1, 5.4.x prior to 5.4.7, 5.3.x prior to 5.3.10 and 5.2.x prior to 5.2.11 are susceptible to a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack via the initiation of the Authorization Request in an OAuth 2.0 Client Web and WebFlux application. A malicious user or attacker can send multiple requests initiating the Authorization Request for the Authorization Code Grant, which has the potential of exhausting system resources using a single session or multiple sessions.

Published by the source

2 Jul 2021, 18:33 UTC

Last modified by the source

27 Jan 2023, 05:02 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:53 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-w9jg-gvgr-354m

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2021-22119

Advisory: Resource Exhaustion in Spring Security
IDs: CVE-2021-22119, GHSA-w9jg-gvgr-354m
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2021-22119 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:53 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.5)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: org.springframework.security:spring-security-core 5.5.1, 5.4.7, 5.3.10, 5.2.11; org.springframework.security:spring-security-oauth2-client 5.5.1, 5.4.7, 5.3.10, 5.2.11. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven org.springframework.security:spring-security-core: affected >= 5.5.0, < 5.5.1; >= 5.4.0, < 5.4.7; >= 5.3.0, <= 5.3.9; >= 5.2.0, <= 5.2.10; fixed in 5.5.1, 5.3.10, 5.2.11, 5.4.7
- Maven org.springframework.security:spring-security-oauth2-client: affected >= 5.5.0, < 5.5.1; >= 5.4.0, < 5.4.7; >= 5.3.0, <= 5.3.9; >= 5.2.0, <= 5.2.10; fixed in 5.5.1, 5.3.10, 5.2.11, 5.4.7

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven org.springframework.security:spring-security-core: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Maven org.springframework.security:spring-security-oauth2-client: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on org.springframework.security:spring-security-core, org.springframework.security:spring-security-oauth2-client.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-w9jg-gvgr-354m (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-w9jg-gvgr-354m lists affected ranges: Maven org.springframework.security:spring-security-core >=5.5.0 =5.4.0 =5.3.0 =5.2.0 =5.5.0 =5.4.0 =5.3.0 =5.2.0 <=5.2.10)

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