CVE-2019-11272
If an application using an affected version of Spring Security is leveraging PlaintextPasswordEncoder and a user has a null encoded password, a malicious user (or attacker) can authenticate using a password of "null".
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (1.38%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
Spring Security, versions 4.2.x up to 4.2.12, and older unsupported versions support plain text passwords using PlaintextPasswordEncoder. If an application using an affected version of Spring Security is leveraging PlaintextPasswordEncoder and a user has a null encoded password, a malicious user (or attacker) can authenticate using a password of "null".
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
- EPSS
- 1.38% probability · 72th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-287, CWE-522
- Affected
- vmware/spring security · debian/debian linux
- Source
- security@pivotal.io
EPSS 1.4% since 27 October 2026; no change recorded yet. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
References
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/07/msg00008.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://pivotal.io/security/cve-2019-11272Vendor Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/07/msg00008.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://pivotal.io/security/cve-2019-11272Vendor Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.