CVE-2016-9879
HIGHEPSS 70th pctlDescription
An issue was discovered in Pivotal Spring Security before 3.2.10, 4.1.x before 4.1.4, and 4.2.x before 4.2.1. Spring Security does not consider URL path parameters when processing security constraints. By adding a URL path parameter with an encoded "/" to a request, an attacker may be able to bypass a security constraint. The root cause of this issue is a lack of clarity regarding the handling of path parameters in the Servlet Specification. Some Servlet containers include path parameters in the value returned for getPathInfo() and some do not. Spring Security uses the value returned by getPathInfo() as part of the process of mapping requests to security constraints. The unexpected presence of path parameters can cause a constraint to be bypassed. Users of Apache Tomcat (all current versions) are not affected by this vulnerability since Tomcat follows the guidance previously provided by the Servlet Expert group and strips path parameters from the value returned by getContextPath(), getServletPath(), and getPathInfo(). Users of other Servlet containers based on Apache Tomcat may or may not be affected depending on whether or not the handling of path parameters has been modified. Users of IBM WebSphere Application Server 8.5.x are known to be affected. Users of other containers that implement the Servlet specification may be affected.
How to fix
No published remediation has been found for this vulnerability's affected products yet.
Mitigation guidance may be in the linked vendor advisories in the References section below.
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CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Exploit Intelligence
Elevated risk: more likely to be exploited than 70% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-417 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2019-9855 | Critical | 9.8 | 2.6% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2019-14318 | Medium | 5.9 | 2.5% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-7480 | Critical | 9.8 | 2.3% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-6520 | Critical | 9.1 | 1.9% | - | - |
| CVE-2018-5254 | High | 7.5 | 1.2% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-1000197 | Critical | 9.8 | 1.1% | - | - |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2016-9879?
No published fix for CVE-2016-9879 has been found yet. Check the linked vendor advisories for guidance as it becomes available.
Is CVE-2016-9879 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2016-9879 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 1.4% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 70% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2016-9879?
CVE-2016-9879 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5, rated high. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-05-06.