[Snyk] Security upgrade org.springframework:spring-web from 3.2.6.RELEASE to 6.2.17

[lcrowther-snyk]

Snyk has created this PR to fix 1 vulnerabilities in the maven dependencies of this project.

Snyk changed the following file(s):

• pom.xml

Vulnerabilities that will be fixed with an upgrade:

	Issue	Score	Upgrade
	Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection') SNYK-JAVA-ORGSPRINGFRAMEWORK-15701755	40	org.springframework:spring-web: 3.2.6.RELEASE -> 6.2.17 Major version upgrade No Path Found No Known Exploit

Breaking Change Risk

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[lcrowther-snyk]

Upgrading from Spring Framework 3.2.6 to 6.2.17 is a massive undertaking that spans three major versions (4.x, 5.x, 6.x) and introduces multiple layers of significant breaking changes. This is not a simple dependency update and will require a major, planned migration effort.

Key Breaking Changes & Required Actions:

• Java 17 Baseline: Spring Framework 6.x requires a minimum of Java 17. Your application and build environment must be upgraded from the Java 6+ baseline used by Spring 3.2.

• Migration to Jakarta EE: This is the most impactful change. Spring 6 is built on Jakarta EE 9+, which moves all enterprise Java packages from the javax.* namespace to jakarta.*. This requires a codebase-wide find-and-replace for all imports (e.g., javax.servlet.* becomes jakarta.servlet.*). This change affects core web APIs and any persistence layers like JPA.

• Removed APIs and Integrations: Numerous features and integrations that were deprecated in versions 4.x and 5.x have been completely removed in 6.0. Notable removals include:

  • RPC-style remoting (HTTP Invoker, Hessian).
  • Support for older versions of libraries like Hibernate 3/4, Ehcache 2, and Joda-Time.
  • Many deprecated classes and methods from previous versions.

• Spring MVC and WebFlux: While Spring 5 introduced the reactive WebFlux module, your existing Spring MVC application does not need to be rewritten. However, many underlying APIs have evolved. For example, ListenableFuture has been replaced by CompletableFuture.

Recommendation:
This upgrade cannot be performed in a single step. A staged migration is strongly recommended:

1. First, upgrade to the latest Spring Framework 4.3.x release to resolve initial incompatibilities.
2. Then, migrate to Spring Framework 5.3.x, which will require a move to at least Java 8.
3. Finally, undertake the significant migration to Spring Framework 6.x, which includes the Java 17 and Jakarta EE namespace changes.

This is a high-risk, high-effort migration that will touch nearly every part of the application.

Source: Spring Framework 6.0 Release Notes, Upgrading to Spring Framework 5.x

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