CVE-2025-22234VulnerabilityPublished 22 Jan 2026

CVE-2025-22234: Spring Security · Timing Descrepency

Affects Spring SecuritySource CVE Database V5

Mentioned vulnerabilities

CVE-2025-22228

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 32% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 22 Jan 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
SpringSpring Security	Affected =5.7.16 =5.8.18 =6.0.16 =6.1.14 =6.2.10 =6.3.8 =6.4.4	Fixed in–
Mavenorg.springframework.security/spring-security-core`pkg:maven/org.springframework.security/spring-security-core`Other threats	Affected =5.7.16 =5.8.18 =6.0.16 =6.1.14 =6.2.10 =6.3.8 =6.4.4	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately identify and inventory all applications using affected Spring Security versions (5.7.16, 5.8.18, 6.0.16 through 6.4.4). Until an official patch is released, implement compensating controls such as introducing artificial delays or uniform response times in authentication workflows to obscure timing differences. Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with rate limiting and anomaly detection to detect and block suspicious probing activity targeting login endpoints. Review and enhance logging and monitoring to detect unusual authentication patterns indicative of enumeration attempts. Encourage use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) to reduce the impact of username enumeration. Educate development teams on secure coding practices to avoid timing side channels in authentication logic. Stay updated with Spring Security advisories for forthcoming patches and apply them promptly once available. Consider deploying application-layer defenses like CAPTCHA challenges after multiple failed login attempts to hinder automated attacks exploiting this vulnerability.

Description

The fix applied in CVE-2025-22228 inadvertently broke the timing attack mitigation implemented in DaoAuthenticationProvider. This can allow attackers to infer valid usernames or other authentication behavior via response-time differences under certain configurations.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a moderate risk primarily through information disclosure. By revealing valid usernames, attackers can streamline credential stuffing, password spraying, or targeted phishing campaigns, increasing the likelihood of successful account compromise. Organizations relying on Spring Security for authentication in web applications, especially those handling sensitive or regulated data, may face increased exposure to identity-based attacks. While the vulnerability does not directly compromise system integrity or availability, the confidentiality breach can undermine trust and compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR. The ease of remote exploitation without authentication means attackers can probe public-facing applications at scale. This risk is heightened for sectors with high-value targets such as finance, healthcare, and government services prevalent in Europe. Additionally, the lack of known exploits in the wild currently provides a window for proactive mitigation before widespread abuse occurs.

Summary

CVE-2025-22234 is a timing attack vulnerability classified under CWE-208 (Information Exposure Through Timing Discrepancy) affecting the DaoAuthenticationProvider component of Spring Security. The issue originated when a prior fix for CVE-2025-22228 unintentionally disabled the timing attack mitigation mechanism. DaoAuthenticationProvider is responsible for authenticating users against a data source, and the mitigation previously ensured that response times were uniform regardless of whether a username was valid or not. With this mitigation broken, attackers can measure subtle differences in response times to infer whether a username exists or to glean other authentication-related information. This side-channel attack requires no authentication or user interaction and can be executed remotely over the network. The vulnerability affects multiple Spring Security versions, including 5.7.16, 5.8.18, and all 6.x versions up to 6.4.4. Although the vulnerability does not allow direct compromise of credentials or system integrity, it leaks sensitive information that can be leveraged in subsequent attacks such as brute force or social engineering. No patches are currently linked, indicating that users must monitor vendor advisories closely. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.3 reflects a medium severity, with the vector indicating network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges or user interaction required, and limited confidentiality impact without integrity or availability effects.

CWE-208Observable Timing Discrepancy (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
Two separate operations in a product require different amounts of time to complete, in a way that is observable to an actor and reveals security-relevant information about the state of the product, such as whether a particular operation was successful or not.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
Logging (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
V7.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Cross-Domain Search Timing (opens in a new tab)
Application Fingerprinting (opens in a new tab)
System Footprinting (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

spring.io/security/cve-2025-22234/ (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 22 Jan 2026, 21:35 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-208

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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