CVE-2014-3527

When using Spring Security's CAS Proxy ticket authentication a malicious CAS Service could trick another CAS Service into authenticating a proxy ticket that was not associated. This is due to the fact that the proxy ticket authentication uses the information from the HttpServletRequest which is populated based upon untrusted information within the HTTP request.

This means if there are access control restrictions on which CAS services can authenticate to one another, those restrictions can be bypassed.

If users are not using CAS Proxy tickets and not basing access control decisions based upon the CAS Service, then there is no impact to users.

Mitigation

Users of affected versions should apply the following mitigation:

• Users of 3.2x should upgrade to 3.2.5 or later
• Users of 3.1.x should upgrade to 3.1.7 or later

Credit

This issue was identified by David Ohsie and brought to our attention by the CAS Development team.

The application does not adequately verify the identity of a user, device, or process before granting access. Typical impact: unauthorized access to functions or data reserved for authenticated parties.

CVE-2014-3527 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (Critical). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (3.1.7, 3.2.5); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

1. What is CVE-2014-3527? CVE-2014-3527 is a critical-severity improper authentication vulnerability in org.springframework.security:spring-security-core (maven), affecting versions < 3.1.7. It is fixed in 3.1.7, 3.2.5. The application does not adequately verify the identity of a user, device, or process before granting access.
2. How severe is CVE-2014-3527? CVE-2014-3527 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (Critical). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of org.springframework.security:spring-security-core are affected by CVE-2014-3527? org.springframework.security:spring-security-core (maven) versions < 3.1.7 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2014-3527? Yes. CVE-2014-3527 is fixed in 3.1.7, 3.2.5. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2014-3527 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2014-3527 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2014-3527 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2014-3527?
   • Upgrade org.springframework.security:spring-security-core to 3.1.7 or later
   • Upgrade org.springframework.security:spring-security-core to 3.2.5 or later