GlobalMethodSecurityConfiguration autowires PermissionEvaluator from the context:
https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-security/blob/4.1.3.RELEASE/config/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/config/annotation/method/configuration/GlobalMethodSecurityConfiguration.java#L154
WebSecurityConfiguration should do the same thing.
Currently, it's surprising that when a PermissionEvaluator is set up, it just works (with no configuration other than declaring the PermissionEvaluator bean) when used from Java annotations but the same expression always returns denied (as that's what the default configuration does) when used from in a web context (such as in a JSP sec: expression).