CVE-2020-5408 | Dictionary attack with Spring Security queryable text encryptor

Spring Security versions 5.3.x prior to 5.3.2, 5.2.x prior to 5.2.4, 5.1.x prior to 5.1.10, 5.0.x prior to 5.0.16 and 4.2.x prior to 4.2.16 use a fixed null initialization vector with CBC Mode in the implementation of the queryable text encryptor. A malicious user with access to the data that has been encrypted using such an encryptor may be able to derive the unencrypted values using a dictionary attack.

Published: 2020-05-14 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-5408 is rated Moderate Risk (47.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.41%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-5408

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-29 0.47% 0.41% -0.06%
2 2025-11-21 0.31% 0.47% +0.15%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.31% —

Full EPSS history (14 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-5408

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.8 3.6 [email protected]
4.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-5408

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-5408

GHSA-2ppp-9496-p23q · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: maven — Insufficient Entropy in Spring Security

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-5408

vendor priority summary link
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-5408 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libspring-security-2.0-java), 6 status rows across 6 suites (bionic, eoan, focal, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 5, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-5408

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-5408

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
pivotal_software spring_security >= 5.2.0, < 5.2.4 cpe:2.3:a:pivotal_software:spring_security:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
pivotal_software spring_security >= 5.3.0, < 5.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:pivotal_software:spring_security:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware spring_security >= 4.2.0, < 4.2.16 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_security:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware spring_security >= 5.0.0, < 5.0.16 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_security:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware spring_security >= 5.1.0, < 5.1.10 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:spring_security:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-5408

cvelogic Threat Intelligence