CVE-2025-41248 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting VMware Spring Security versions 6.4.x and 6.5.x. The issue arises from the Spring Security annotation detection mechanism, which fails to correctly resolve security annotations such as @PreAuthorize on methods within type hierarchies that involve parameterized super types with unbounded generics. Specifically, when the @EnableMethodSecurity feature is used, and security annotations are applied on methods declared in generic superclasses or interfaces, the framework may incorrectly bypass authorization checks. This flaw leads to an authorization bypass vulnerability, allowing attackers to invoke protected methods without proper permissions. The vulnerability is identified as CWE-289 (Improper Authentication). The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.5, indicating a high severity, with an attack vector of network (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), high confidentiality impact (C:H), and no impact on integrity or availability (I:N/A:N). There are no known exploits in the wild as of the publication date (September 16, 2025). This vulnerability is related to CVE-2025-41249, which is also published concurrently. The root cause is a logic flaw in the annotation processing mechanism when dealing with generics in Java, which is a common pattern in enterprise applications using Spring Security for method-level access control.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk, especially for enterprises heavily reliant on Spring Security for securing Java-based web applications and microservices. The authorization bypass can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive business functions, exposing confidential data and potentially violating GDPR and other data protection regulations. Since the flaw affects method-level security annotations, attackers could execute privileged operations without authentication or authorization, leading to data leakage or unauthorized actions within critical systems. The impact is heightened in sectors such as finance, healthcare, government, and telecommunications, where Spring Security is widely adopted and data sensitivity is paramount. The lack of required privileges or user interaction for exploitation means attackers can remotely exploit this vulnerability over the network, increasing the attack surface. Although no known exploits exist yet, the high CVSS score and the widespread use of Spring Security in Europe make this a pressing concern for security teams.

Organizations should immediately audit their use of Spring Security, specifically checking for the use of @EnableMethodSecurity and method-level security annotations on generic superclasses or interfaces. The primary mitigation is to upgrade affected Spring Security versions (6.4.x and 6.5.x) to patched releases once available from VMware or the Spring project. Until patches are applied, consider refactoring code to avoid placing security annotations on methods in generic superclasses or interfaces, or disable @EnableMethodSecurity if feasible. Implement additional compensating controls such as network segmentation, strict firewall rules, and enhanced monitoring of application logs for suspicious access patterns. Conduct thorough code reviews focusing on authorization logic in generic class hierarchies. Employ runtime application self-protection (RASP) or web application firewalls (WAF) with custom rules to detect and block anomalous method invocation patterns. Finally, ensure incident response teams are prepared to detect and respond to potential exploitation attempts.