CVE-2018-15801
Authorization Bypass During JWT Issuer Validation with spring-security
Spring Security versions 5.1.x prior to 5.1.2 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability during JWT issuer validation. In order to be impacted, the same private key for an honest issuer and a malicious user must be used when signing JWTs. In that case, a malicious user could fashion signed JWTs with the malicious issuer URL that may be granted for the honest issuer.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- High
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Authorization Bypass During JWT Issuer Validation with spring-security
Spring Security versions 5.1.x prior to 5.1.2 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability during JWT issuer validation. In order to be impacted, the same private key for an honest issuer and a malicious user must be used when signing JWTs. In that case, a malicious user could fashion signed JWTs with the malicious issuer URL that may be granted for the honest issuer.
- Record
CVE-2018-15801- CVSS 3.0
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2018-0791
Spring Security versions 5.1.x prior to 5.1.2 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability during JWT issuer validation. In order to be impacted, the same private key for an honest issuer and a malicious user must be used when signing JWTs. In that case, a malicious user could fashion signed JWTs with the malicious issuer URL that may be granted for the honest issuer.
- Record
EUVD-2018-0791- CVSS 3.0
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-27xw-p8v6-9jjr
Spring Security vulnerable to Authorization Bypass
Spring Security versions 5.1.x prior to 5.1.2 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability during JWT issuer validation. In order to be impacted, the same private key for an honest issuer and a malicious user must be used when signing JWTs. In that case, a malicious user could fashion signed JWTs with the malicious issuer URL that may be granted for the honest issuer.
- Record
GHSA-27xw-p8v6-9jjr- CVSS 3.0
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-345
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
Spring Security versions 5.1.x prior to 5.1.2 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability during JWT issuer validation. In order to be impacted, the same private key for an honest issuer and a malicious user must be used when signing JWTs. In that case, a malicious user could fashion signed JWTs with the malicious issuer URL that may be granted for the honest issuer.
- Record
CVE-2018-15801- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - CVSS 3.0
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 5.8 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-345
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
Spring Security versions 5.1.x prior to 5.1.2 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability during JWT issuer validation. In order to be impacted, the same private key for an honest issuer and a malicious user must be used when signing JWTs. In that case, a malicious user could fashion signed JWTs with the malicious issuer URL that may be granted for the honest issuer.
- Record
CVE-2018-15801- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-27xw-p8v6-9jjr
Spring Security vulnerable to Authorization Bypass
Spring Security versions 5.1.x prior to 5.1.2 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability during JWT issuer validation. In order to be impacted, the same private key for an honest issuer and a malicious user must be used when signing JWTs. In that case, a malicious user could fashion signed JWTs with the malicious issuer URL that may be granted for the honest issuer.
- Record
GHSA-27xw-p8v6-9jjr- CVSS 3.0
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-345
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
org.springframework.security:spring-security-coreMaven |
5.1.0 up to 5.1.2 | 5.1.2 |
org.springframework.security:spring-security-oauth2-joseMaven |
5.1.0 up to 5.1.2 | 5.1.2 |
org.springframework.security:spring-security-coreMaven |
5.1.0 up to 5.1.2, plus listed versions 5.1.0.RELEASE5.1.1.RELEASE |
5.1.2 |
org.springframework.security:spring-security-oauth2-joseMaven |
5.1.0 up to 5.1.2, plus listed versions 5.1.0.RELEASE5.1.1.RELEASE |
5.1.2 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, products | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2018-15801 is a low vulnerability (CVSS 3.3) in Spring Security, published December 19, 2018. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.65%, the 51st percentile. Fixed in org.springframework.security:spring-security-core 5.1.2.