Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-22732

Vmware Spring Security ≤ 5.7.22

Public PoC
Published
19 March 2026
Modified
16 April 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0048 39th percentile
Risk Priority 67 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-22732 is a critical-severity Forced Browsing (CWE-425) vulnerability in Vmware Spring Security. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 39th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-22732 affects Spring Security Servlet applications that use the default lazy writing of HTTP headers, where applications specify HTTP response headers but they may not be written. This vulnerability impacts versions from 5.7.0 through 5.7.21, 5.8.0 through 5.8.23, 6.3.0 through 6.3.14, 6.4.0 through 6.4.14, 6.5.0 through 6.5.8, and 7.0.0 through 7.0.3. It is associated with CWE-425 and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low attack complexity and no user interaction required. Exploitation prevents the intended HTTP response headers from being applied, resulting in high confidentiality and integrity impacts but no availability impact.

The official Spring Security advisory provides details on mitigation and patches at https://spring.io/security/cve-2026-22732.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

When applications specify HTTP response headers for servlet applications using Spring Security, there is the possibility that the HTTP Headers will not be written. This issue affects Spring Security Servlet applications using lazy (default) writing of HTTP Headers: : from…

more

5.7.0 through 5.7.21, from 5.8.0 through 5.8.23, from 6.3.0 through 6.3.14, from 6.4.0 through 6.4.14, from 6.5.0 through 6.5.8, from 7.0.0 through 7.0.3.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may enumerate files and directories or may search in specific locations of a host or network share for certain information within a file system.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-40993Same product: Vmware Spring Security
CVE-2026-41003Same product: Vmware Spring Security
CVE-2026-22748Same product: Vmware Spring Security
CVE-2023-34035Same product: Vmware Spring Security
CVE-2026-47838Same product: Vmware Spring Security
CVE-2024-38810Same product: Vmware Spring Security
CVE-2023-34042Same product: Vmware Spring Security
CVE-2026-22753Same product: Vmware Spring Security
CVE-2024-22234Same product: Vmware Spring Security
CVE-2026-22754Same product: Vmware Spring Security

Affected Assets

vmware
spring security
≤ 5.7.22 · 5.8.0 — 5.8.24 · 6.3.0 — 6.3.15

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 directly requires enforcement of authorizations for access to resources such as URLs, scripts, and files, structurally preventing forced browsing.

AC-24 requires that access-control decisions be applied to every request, addressing the missing enforcement on restricted URLs.

AC-6 requires restricting authorizations to the minimum needed, reducing the set of resources that must be protected against direct requests.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-05 full match
prevents

Directly requires policy-driven definition, enforcement, and review of authorizations on resources such as URLs.

PR.IR-01 mostly match
prevents

Protects environments from unauthorized logical access, which includes preventing direct requests to restricted paths.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing can detect forced-browsing flaws, but the control itself does not prevent them in production.

prevents

Information access restriction implements the technical enforcement that directly blocks unauthorized direct requests.

prevents

Access control policy directly requires authorization checks on all resources, preventing forced browsing.

degrades

Managing access rights ensures every URL/script/file is explicitly authorized, mitigating direct request attacks.

degrades

Privileged access rights control enforces least-privilege checks on restricted endpoints.

prevents

Secure SDLC can include authorization design, yet the control itself does not guarantee runtime enforcement.

References