CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2021-22119

Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

Published: Jun 29, 2021 | Modified: Jun 17, 2026
CVSS 3.x
7.5
HIGH
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 2.x
5 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
7.5 MODERATE
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Ubuntu
MEDIUM

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.

Weakness

The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.

Affected Software

NameVendorStart VersionEnd Version
Spring_securityVmware5.2.0 (including)5.2.11 (excluding)
Spring_securityVmware5.3.0 (including)5.3.10 (excluding)
Spring_securityVmware5.4.0 (including)5.4.7 (excluding)
Spring_securityVmware5.5.0 (including)5.5.1 (excluding)
Red Hat Fuse 7.11RedHatspring-security-oauth2-client*
Libspring-security-2.0-javaUbuntutrusty*
Libspring-security-2.0-javaUbuntuupstream*
Libspring-security-2.0-javaUbuntuxenial*

Potential Mitigations

  • Mitigation of resource exhaustion attacks requires that the target system either:

  • The first of these solutions is an issue in itself though, since it may allow attackers to prevent the use of the system by a particular valid user. If the attacker impersonates the valid user, they may be able to prevent the user from accessing the server in question.

  • The second solution is simply difficult to effectively institute – and even when properly done, it does not provide a full solution. It simply makes the attack require more resources on the part of the attacker.

References