CVE-2023-20860 Spring Framework is vulnerable to security bypass via mvcRequestMatcher pattern mismatch
Attackers can bypass Spring Security authorization checks due to pattern matching mismatches when using specific wildcard configurations.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2023-20860?
CVE-2023-20860 is a high-severity vulnerability in Vmware Spring Framework, published on 27 Mar 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Spring Framework running version 6.0.0 - 6.0.6 or 5.3.0 - 5.3.25 using "**" as a pattern in Spring Security configuration with the mvcRequestMatcher creates a mismatch in pattern matching between Spring Security and Spring MVC, and the potential for a security bypass.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20860?
8 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.springframework:spring and org.springframework:spring-webmvc. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
org.springframework:spring Maven | From 5.3.0 | 5.3.26 |
org.springframework:spring Maven | From 5.3.0 | 5.3.26 |
org.springframework:spring Maven | From 6.0.0 | 6.0.7 |
org.springframework:spring Maven | From 6.0.0 | 6.0.7 |
org.springframework:spring-webmvc Maven | From 5.3.0 | 5.3.26 |
org.springframework:spring-webmvc Maven | From 5.3.0 | 5.3.26 |
2 more packages
org.springframework:spring-webmvc Maven | From 6.0.0 | 6.0.7 |
org.springframework:spring-webmvc Maven | From 6.0.0 | 6.0.7 |
Products include Vmware Spring Framework.
How do I fix CVE-2023-20860?
Upgrade org.springframework:spring to a fixed version for your release line: 5.3.26 or 6.0.7.
Is CVE-2023-20860 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20860 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Public exploit code: 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.
Other vulnerabilities in Vmware Spring Framework
- CVE-2026-47884 Spring Framework Improper Path Limitation in XsltView
- CVE-2026-47890 Spring Framework Server Sent Event stream corruption while rendering fragments
- CVE-2026-47891 Spring Framework maxInMemorySize Bypassed in Jaxb2Decoder
- CVE-2026-47892 Spring Framework Header Predicate Bypass in WebFlux Functional Endpoints
- CVE-2026-59313 Server Sent Event stream corruption in Spring MVC functional web framework
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2023-20860, GHSA-7phw-cxx7-q9vq, RHLW-2026-6b59708c7adb9eb8, ROOT-APP-MAVEN-CVE-2023-20860, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-20860.