Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2016-4977

When processing authorization requests using the whitelabel views in Spring Security OAuth 2.0.0 to 2.0.9 and 1.0.0 to 1.0.5, the response_type parameter value was executed as Spring SpEL which enabled a malicious user to trigger remote code execution via the crafting of the value for response_type.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.8, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from pivotal organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2017, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.

Published

2017-05-25T17:29:00.707

Last Modified

2025-04-20T01:37:25.860

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.0: 8.8 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: SINGLE
Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
Integrity Impact: PARTIAL
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

8.0

Impact Score

6.4

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-19

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	1.0.0	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	1.0.1	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	1.0.2	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	1.0.3	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	1.0.4	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	1.0.5	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	2.0.0	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	2.0.1	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	2.0.2	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	2.0.3	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	2.0.4	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	2.0.5	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	2.0.6	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	2.0.7	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	2.0.8	Yes
Application	pivotal	spring_security_oauth	2.0.9	Yes

References

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/10/16/1 ([email protected])
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/0841d849c23418c473ccb9183cbf41a317cb0476e44be48022ce3488%40%3Cdev.fineract.apache.org%3E ([email protected])
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/37d7e820fc65a768de3e096e98382d5529a52a039f093e59357d0bc0%40%3Cdev.fineract.apache.org%3E ([email protected])
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/5e6dd946635bbcc9e1f2591599ad0fab54f2dc3714196af3b17893f2%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E ([email protected])
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/96c017115069408cec5e82ce1e6293facab398011f6db7e1befbe274%40%3Cdev.fineract.apache.org%3E ([email protected])
https://pivotal.io/security/cve-2016-4977 Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/10/16/1 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/0841d849c23418c473ccb9183cbf41a317cb0476e44be48022ce3488%40%3Cdev.fineract.apache.org%3E (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/37d7e820fc65a768de3e096e98382d5529a52a039f093e59357d0bc0%40%3Cdev.fineract.apache.org%3E (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/5e6dd946635bbcc9e1f2591599ad0fab54f2dc3714196af3b17893f2%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/96c017115069408cec5e82ce1e6293facab398011f6db7e1befbe274%40%3Cdev.fineract.apache.org%3E (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://pivotal.io/security/cve-2016-4977 Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For pivotal's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.