Overview
Spring LDAP is a Java library designed to simplify LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) programming, streamlining the often complex tasks of querying and managing directory data. By encapsulating low-level operations like looping through results, handling exceptions, and resource management within its LdapTemplate class, Spring LDAP allows developers to focus on the core aspects of their applications, such as defining queries and mapping directory data to domain objects. It also provides robust exception translation and utilities for working with filters, LDAP paths, and attributes, ensuring better error handling and cleaner code. For enterprise users, Spring LDAP is vital because it reduces development overhead, enhances maintainability, and integrates seamlessly with other Spring frameworks, making it easier to build scalable and secure directory-based authentication and authorization systems.
Similar to CVE-2024-38820, an improper locale vulnerability (CVE-2024-38829) has been identified in Spring LDAP, which could potentially result in unintended columns being queried.
This issue affects multiple versions of Spring LDAP.
Details
Module Info
- Product: Spring LDAP
- Affected packages: spring-ldap-core, spring-ldap-odm, spring-ldap-test
- Affected versions: <=2.4.3, >=3.0.0 <=3.0.9, >=3.1.0 <=3.1.7, >=3.2.0 <3.2.7
- GitHub repository: https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-ldap
- Package manager: Maven
- Fixed in: Spring NES v2.4.5
Vulnerability Info
The methods String.toLowerCase() and String.toUpperCase() in Java perform case conversions based on locale-specific rules. These rules can vary significantly depending on the locale being used, potentially leading to unexpected behavior in string comparisons or transformations. For example, certain characters in the Turkish locale (e.g., 'i' and 'I') have distinct case-mapping rules that differ from the default behavior.
In the context of CVE-2024-38820, this behavior becomes a security concern if these methods are used in systems involving security rules and matching. If a string representing an attribute, key, or identifier is transformed using these methods, locale-specific exceptions could result in mismatches or improper validation. This can lead to authorization bypass or denial of legitimate access.
Steps To Reproduce
This issue affects multiple packages in Spring LDAP for general reproduction see the related CVE-2024-38820.
Credits
- Marek Parfianowicz (finder of the original vulnerability in Spring Framework)
Mitigation
Spring LDAP 2.4.x will become End-of-Life on January 1st, 2025 and will no longer be community-supported. For more information, see here.
Users of the affected components should apply one of the following mitigations:
- Upgrade affected applications to supported versions of Spring LDAP.
- Leverage a commercial support partner like HeroDevs for post-EOL security support.
