diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/core/ComparableVersion.java b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/core/ComparableVersion.java
index bce13b7ac1..7e01b042aa 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/core/ComparableVersion.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/core/ComparableVersion.java
@@ -17,27 +17,26 @@
 package org.springframework.security.core;
 
 import java.math.BigInteger;
+import java.util.ArrayDeque;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Deque;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.ListIterator;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Properties;
-import java.util.Stack;
 
 /**
+ * <p>
  * Generic implementation of version comparison.
+ * </p>
  *
  * NOTE: This is a copy from
- * https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/maven/maven-3/tags/maven-3.1.0
- * /maven-artifact/src/main/
- * java/org/apache/maven/artifact/versioning/ComparableVersion.java
+ * https://github.com/apache/maven/blob/maven-3.6.3/maven-artifact/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/versioning/ComparableVersion.java
  *
- * <p>
  * Features:
  * <ul>
- * <li>mixing of '<code>-</code>' (dash) and '<code>.</code>' (dot) separators,</li>
+ * <li>mixing of '<code>-</code>' (hyphen) and '<code>.</code>' (dot) separators,</li>
  * <li>transition between characters and digits also constitutes a separator:
  * <code>1.0alpha1 =&gt; [1, 0, alpha, 1]</code></li>
  * <li>unlimited number of version components,</li>
@@ -55,19 +54,22 @@ import java.util.Stack;
  * </ul>
  * Unknown qualifiers are considered after known qualifiers, with lexical order (always
  * case insensitive),</li>
- * <li>a dash usually precedes a qualifier, and is always less important than something
+ * <li>a hyphen usually precedes a qualifier, and is always less important than something
  * preceded with a dot.</li>
  * </ul>
- * </p>
  *
- * @author Kenney Westerhof
- * @author Hervé Boutemy
  * @see <a href=
  * "https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MAVENOLD/Versioning">"Versioning" on Maven
  * Wiki</a>
+ * @author <a href="mailto:kenney@apache.org">Kenney Westerhof</a>
+ * @author <a href="mailto:hboutemy@apache.org">Hervé Boutemy</a>
  */
 class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 
+	private static final int MAX_INTITEM_LENGTH = 9;
+
+	private static final int MAX_LONGITEM_LENGTH = 18;
+
 	private String value;
 
 	private String canonical;
@@ -76,7 +78,11 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 
 	private interface Item {
 
-		int INTEGER_ITEM = 0;
+		int INT_ITEM = 3;
+
+		int LONG_ITEM = 4;
+
+		int BIGINTEGER_ITEM = 0;
 
 		int STRING_ITEM = 1;
 
@@ -91,43 +97,194 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Represents a numeric item in the version item list.
+	 * Represents a numeric item in the version item list that can be represented with an
+	 * int.
 	 */
-	private static class IntegerItem implements Item {
+	private static class IntItem implements Item {
 
-		private static final BigInteger BigInteger_ZERO = new BigInteger("0");
+		private final int value;
 
-		private final BigInteger value;
+		public static final IntItem ZERO = new IntItem();
+
+		private IntItem() {
+			this.value = 0;
+		}
+
+		IntItem(String str) {
+			this.value = Integer.parseInt(str);
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public int getType() {
+			return INT_ITEM;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public boolean isNull() {
+			return value == 0;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public int compareTo(Item item) {
+			if (item == null) {
+				return (value == 0) ? 0 : 1; // 1.0 == 1, 1.1 > 1
+			}
+
+			switch (item.getType()) {
+			case INT_ITEM:
+				int itemValue = ((IntItem) item).value;
+				return (value < itemValue) ? -1 : ((value == itemValue) ? 0 : 1);
+			case LONG_ITEM:
+			case BIGINTEGER_ITEM:
+				return -1;
+
+			case STRING_ITEM:
+				return 1; // 1.1 > 1-sp
+
+			case LIST_ITEM:
+				return 1; // 1.1 > 1-1
+
+			default:
+				throw new IllegalStateException("invalid item: " + item.getClass());
+			}
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public boolean equals(Object o) {
+			if (this == o) {
+				return true;
+			}
+			if (o == null || getClass() != o.getClass()) {
+				return false;
+			}
+
+			IntItem intItem = (IntItem) o;
+
+			return value == intItem.value;
+
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public int hashCode() {
+			return value;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public String toString() {
+			return Integer.toString(value);
+		}
+
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Represents a numeric item in the version item list that can be represented with a
+	 * long.
+	 */
+	private static class LongItem implements Item {
+
+		private final long value;
+
+		LongItem(String str) {
+			this.value = Long.parseLong(str);
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public int getType() {
+			return LONG_ITEM;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public boolean isNull() {
+			return value == 0;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public int compareTo(Item item) {
+			if (item == null) {
+				return (value == 0) ? 0 : 1; // 1.0 == 1, 1.1 > 1
+			}
+
+			switch (item.getType()) {
+			case INT_ITEM:
+				return 1;
+			case LONG_ITEM:
+				long itemValue = ((LongItem) item).value;
+				return (value < itemValue) ? -1 : ((value == itemValue) ? 0 : 1);
+			case BIGINTEGER_ITEM:
+				return -1;
+
+			case STRING_ITEM:
+				return 1; // 1.1 > 1-sp
 
-		public static final IntegerItem ZERO = new IntegerItem();
+			case LIST_ITEM:
+				return 1; // 1.1 > 1-1
+
+			default:
+				throw new IllegalStateException("invalid item: " + item.getClass());
+			}
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public boolean equals(Object o) {
+			if (this == o) {
+				return true;
+			}
+			if (o == null || getClass() != o.getClass()) {
+				return false;
+			}
 
-		private IntegerItem() {
-			this.value = BigInteger_ZERO;
+			LongItem longItem = (LongItem) o;
+
+			return value == longItem.value;
+
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public int hashCode() {
+			return (int) (value ^ (value >>> 32));
 		}
 
-		IntegerItem(String str) {
+		@Override
+		public String toString() {
+			return Long.toString(value);
+		}
+
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Represents a numeric item in the version item list.
+	 */
+	private static class BigIntegerItem implements Item {
+
+		private final BigInteger value;
+
+		BigIntegerItem(String str) {
 			this.value = new BigInteger(str);
 		}
 
 		@Override
 		public int getType() {
-			return INTEGER_ITEM;
+			return BIGINTEGER_ITEM;
 		}
 
 		@Override
 		public boolean isNull() {
-			return BigInteger_ZERO.equals(this.value);
+			return BigInteger.ZERO.equals(value);
 		}
 
 		@Override
 		public int compareTo(Item item) {
 			if (item == null) {
-				return BigInteger_ZERO.equals(this.value) ? 0 : 1; // 1.0 == 1, 1.1 > 1
+				return BigInteger.ZERO.equals(value) ? 0 : 1; // 1.0 == 1, 1.1 > 1
 			}
 
 			switch (item.getType()) {
-			case INTEGER_ITEM:
-				return this.value.compareTo(((IntegerItem) item).value);
+			case INT_ITEM:
+			case LONG_ITEM:
+				return 1;
+
+			case BIGINTEGER_ITEM:
+				return value.compareTo(((BigIntegerItem) item).value);
 
 			case STRING_ITEM:
 				return 1; // 1.1 > 1-sp
@@ -136,13 +293,32 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 				return 1; // 1.1 > 1-1
 
 			default:
-				throw new RuntimeException("invalid item: " + item.getClass());
+				throw new IllegalStateException("invalid item: " + item.getClass());
+			}
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public boolean equals(Object o) {
+			if (this == o) {
+				return true;
+			}
+			if (o == null || getClass() != o.getClass()) {
+				return false;
 			}
+
+			BigIntegerItem that = (BigIntegerItem) o;
+
+			return value.equals(that.value);
+
 		}
 
 		@Override
+		public int hashCode() {
+			return value.hashCode();
+		}
+
 		public String toString() {
-			return this.value.toString();
+			return value.toString();
 		}
 
 	}
@@ -152,14 +328,14 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 	 */
 	private static class StringItem implements Item {
 
-		private static final String[] QUALIFIERS = { "alpha", "beta", "milestone", "rc", "snapshot", "", "sp" };
-
-		private static final List<String> _QUALIFIERS = Arrays.asList(QUALIFIERS);
+		private static final List<String> QUALIFIERS = Arrays.asList("alpha", "beta", "milestone", "rc", "snapshot", "",
+				"sp");
 
 		private static final Properties ALIASES = new Properties();
 		static {
 			ALIASES.put("ga", "");
 			ALIASES.put("final", "");
+			ALIASES.put("release", "");
 			ALIASES.put("cr", "rc");
 		}
 
@@ -168,9 +344,9 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 		 * determine if a given qualifier makes the version older than one without a
 		 * qualifier, or more recent.
 		 */
-		private static final String RELEASE_VERSION_INDEX = String.valueOf(_QUALIFIERS.indexOf(""));
+		private static final String RELEASE_VERSION_INDEX = String.valueOf(QUALIFIERS.indexOf(""));
 
-		private String value;
+		private final String value;
 
 		StringItem(String value, boolean followedByDigit) {
 			if (followedByDigit && value.length() == 1) {
@@ -185,6 +361,7 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 				case 'm':
 					value = "milestone";
 					break;
+				default:
 				}
 			}
 			this.value = ALIASES.getProperty(value, value);
@@ -197,7 +374,7 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 
 		@Override
 		public boolean isNull() {
-			return (comparableQualifier(this.value).compareTo(RELEASE_VERSION_INDEX) == 0);
+			return (comparableQualifier(value).compareTo(RELEASE_VERSION_INDEX) == 0);
 		}
 
 		/**
@@ -214,35 +391,56 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 		 * @return an equivalent value that can be used with lexical comparison
 		 */
 		public static String comparableQualifier(String qualifier) {
-			int i = _QUALIFIERS.indexOf(qualifier);
+			int i = QUALIFIERS.indexOf(qualifier);
 
-			return i == -1 ? (_QUALIFIERS.size() + "-" + qualifier) : String.valueOf(i);
+			return i == -1 ? (QUALIFIERS.size() + "-" + qualifier) : String.valueOf(i);
 		}
 
 		@Override
 		public int compareTo(Item item) {
 			if (item == null) {
 				// 1-rc < 1, 1-ga > 1
-				return comparableQualifier(this.value).compareTo(RELEASE_VERSION_INDEX);
+				return comparableQualifier(value).compareTo(RELEASE_VERSION_INDEX);
 			}
 			switch (item.getType()) {
-			case INTEGER_ITEM:
+			case INT_ITEM:
+			case LONG_ITEM:
+			case BIGINTEGER_ITEM:
 				return -1; // 1.any < 1.1 ?
 
 			case STRING_ITEM:
-				return comparableQualifier(this.value).compareTo(comparableQualifier(((StringItem) item).value));
+				return comparableQualifier(value).compareTo(comparableQualifier(((StringItem) item).value));
 
 			case LIST_ITEM:
 				return -1; // 1.any < 1-1
 
 			default:
-				throw new RuntimeException("invalid item: " + item.getClass());
+				throw new IllegalStateException("invalid item: " + item.getClass());
+			}
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public boolean equals(Object o) {
+			if (this == o) {
+				return true;
 			}
+			if (o == null || getClass() != o.getClass()) {
+				return false;
+			}
+
+			StringItem that = (StringItem) o;
+
+			return value.equals(that.value);
+
 		}
 
 		@Override
+		public int hashCode() {
+			return value.hashCode();
+		}
+
 		public String toString() {
-			return this.value;
+			return value;
 		}
 
 	}
@@ -264,12 +462,14 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 		}
 
 		void normalize() {
-			for (ListIterator<Item> iterator = listIterator(size()); iterator.hasPrevious();) {
-				Item item = iterator.previous();
-				if (item.isNull()) {
-					iterator.remove(); // remove null trailing items: 0, "", empty list
+			for (int i = size() - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+				Item lastItem = get(i);
+
+				if (lastItem.isNull()) {
+					// remove null trailing items: 0, "", empty list
+					remove(i);
 				}
-				else {
+				else if (!(lastItem instanceof ListItem)) {
 					break;
 				}
 			}
@@ -285,7 +485,9 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 				return first.compareTo(null);
 			}
 			switch (item.getType()) {
-			case INTEGER_ITEM:
+			case INT_ITEM:
+			case LONG_ITEM:
+			case BIGINTEGER_ITEM:
 				return -1; // 1-1 < 1.0.x
 
 			case STRING_ITEM:
@@ -300,7 +502,7 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 					Item r = right.hasNext() ? right.next() : null;
 
 					// if this is shorter, then invert the compare and mul with -1
-					int result = l == null ? -1 * r.compareTo(l) : l.compareTo(r);
+					int result = l == null ? (r == null ? 0 : -1 * r.compareTo(l)) : l.compareTo(r);
 
 					if (result != 0) {
 						return result;
@@ -310,39 +512,39 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 				return 0;
 
 			default:
-				throw new RuntimeException("invalid item: " + item.getClass());
+				throw new IllegalStateException("invalid item: " + item.getClass());
 			}
 		}
 
 		@Override
 		public String toString() {
-			StringBuilder buffer = new StringBuilder("(");
-			for (Iterator<Item> iter = iterator(); iter.hasNext();) {
-				buffer.append(iter.next());
-				if (iter.hasNext()) {
-					buffer.append(',');
+			StringBuilder buffer = new StringBuilder();
+			for (Item item : this) {
+				if (buffer.length() > 0) {
+					buffer.append((item instanceof ListItem) ? '-' : '.');
 				}
+				buffer.append(item);
 			}
-			buffer.append(')');
 			return buffer.toString();
 		}
 
 	}
 
-	ComparableVersion(String version) {
+	public ComparableVersion(String version) {
 		parseVersion(version);
 	}
 
+	@SuppressWarnings("checkstyle:innerassignment")
 	public final void parseVersion(String version) {
 		this.value = version;
 
-		this.items = new ListItem();
+		items = new ListItem();
 
 		version = version.toLowerCase(Locale.ENGLISH);
 
-		ListItem list = this.items;
+		ListItem list = items;
 
-		Stack<Item> stack = new Stack<>();
+		Deque<Item> stack = new ArrayDeque<>();
 		stack.push(list);
 
 		boolean isDigit = false;
@@ -354,7 +556,7 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 
 			if (c == '.') {
 				if (i == startIndex) {
-					list.add(IntegerItem.ZERO);
+					list.add(IntItem.ZERO);
 				}
 				else {
 					list.add(parseItem(isDigit, version.substring(startIndex, i)));
@@ -363,30 +565,23 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 			}
 			else if (c == '-') {
 				if (i == startIndex) {
-					list.add(IntegerItem.ZERO);
+					list.add(IntItem.ZERO);
 				}
 				else {
 					list.add(parseItem(isDigit, version.substring(startIndex, i)));
 				}
 				startIndex = i + 1;
 
-				if (isDigit) {
-					list.normalize(); // 1.0-* = 1-*
-
-					if ((i + 1 < version.length()) && Character.isDigit(version.charAt(i + 1))) {
-						// new ListItem only if previous were digits and new char is a
-						// digit,
-						// ie need to differentiate only 1.1 from 1-1
-						list.add(list = new ListItem());
-
-						stack.push(list);
-					}
-				}
+				list.add(list = new ListItem());
+				stack.push(list);
 			}
 			else if (Character.isDigit(c)) {
 				if (!isDigit && i > startIndex) {
 					list.add(new StringItem(version.substring(startIndex, i), true));
 					startIndex = i;
+
+					list.add(list = new ListItem());
+					stack.push(list);
 				}
 
 				isDigit = true;
@@ -395,6 +590,9 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 				if (isDigit && i > startIndex) {
 					list.add(parseItem(true, version.substring(startIndex, i)));
 					startIndex = i;
+
+					list.add(list = new ListItem());
+					stack.push(list);
 				}
 
 				isDigit = false;
@@ -409,32 +607,101 @@ class ComparableVersion implements Comparable<ComparableVersion> {
 			list = (ListItem) stack.pop();
 			list.normalize();
 		}
-
-		this.canonical = this.items.toString();
 	}
 
 	private static Item parseItem(boolean isDigit, String buf) {
-		return isDigit ? new IntegerItem(buf) : new StringItem(buf, false);
+		if (isDigit) {
+			buf = stripLeadingZeroes(buf);
+			if (buf.length() <= MAX_INTITEM_LENGTH) {
+				// lower than 2^31
+				return new IntItem(buf);
+			}
+			else if (buf.length() <= MAX_LONGITEM_LENGTH) {
+				// lower than 2^63
+				return new LongItem(buf);
+			}
+			return new BigIntegerItem(buf);
+		}
+		return new StringItem(buf, false);
+	}
+
+	private static String stripLeadingZeroes(String buf) {
+		if (buf == null || buf.isEmpty()) {
+			return "0";
+		}
+		for (int i = 0; i < buf.length(); ++i) {
+			char c = buf.charAt(i);
+			if (c != '0') {
+				return buf.substring(i);
+			}
+		}
+		return buf;
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public int compareTo(ComparableVersion o) {
-		return this.items.compareTo(o.items);
+		return items.compareTo(o.items);
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public String toString() {
-		return this.value;
+		return value;
+	}
+
+	public String getCanonical() {
+		if (canonical == null) {
+			canonical = items.toString();
+		}
+		return canonical;
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public boolean equals(Object o) {
-		return (o instanceof ComparableVersion) && this.canonical.equals(((ComparableVersion) o).canonical);
+		return (o instanceof ComparableVersion) && items.equals(((ComparableVersion) o).items);
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public int hashCode() {
-		return this.canonical.hashCode();
+		return items.hashCode();
+	}
+
+	// CHECKSTYLE_OFF: LineLength
+	/**
+	 * Main to test version parsing and comparison.
+	 * <p>
+	 * To check how "1.2.7" compares to "1.2-SNAPSHOT", for example, you can issue
+	 * <pre>java -jar ${maven.repo.local}/org/apache/maven/maven-artifact/${maven.version}/maven-artifact-${maven.version}.jar "1.2.7" "1.2-SNAPSHOT"</pre>
+	 * command to command line. Result of given command will be something like this: <pre>
+	 * Display parameters as parsed by Maven (in canonical form) and comparison result:
+	 * 1. 1.2.7 == 1.2.7
+	 *    1.2.7 &gt; 1.2-SNAPSHOT
+	 * 2. 1.2-SNAPSHOT == 1.2-snapshot
+	 * </pre>
+	 * @param args the version strings to parse and compare. You can pass arbitrary number
+	 * of version strings and always two adjacent will be compared
+	 */
+	// CHECKSTYLE_ON: LineLength
+	public static void main(String... args) {
+		System.out.println("Display parameters as parsed by Maven (in canonical form) and comparison result:");
+		if (args.length == 0) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		ComparableVersion prev = null;
+		int i = 1;
+		for (String version : args) {
+			ComparableVersion c = new ComparableVersion(version);
+
+			if (prev != null) {
+				int compare = prev.compareTo(c);
+				System.out.println("   " + prev.toString() + ' ' + ((compare == 0) ? "==" : ((compare < 0) ? "<" : ">"))
+						+ ' ' + version);
+			}
+
+			System.out.println(String.valueOf(i++) + ". " + version + " == " + c.getCanonical());
+
+			prev = c;
+		}
 	}
 
 }