CVE-2018-11770 org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.10 and org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.11 Improper Authentication vulnerability

What is CVE-2018-11770?

CVE-2018-11770 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Apache Spark, published on 13 Aug 2018. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

From version 1.3.0 onward, Apache Spark's standalone master exposes a REST API for job submission, in addition to the submission mechanism used by spark-submit. In standalone, the config property 'spark.authenticate.secret' establishes a shared secret for authenticating requests to submit jobs via spark-submit. However, the REST API does not use this or any other authentication mechanism, and this is not adequately documented. In this case, a user would be able to run a driver program without authenticating, but not launch executors, using the REST API. This REST API is also used by Mesos, when set up to run in cluster mode (i.e., when also running MesosClusterDispatcher), for job submission. Future versions of Spark will improve documentation on these points, and prohibit setting 'spark.authenticate.secret' when running the REST APIs, to make this clear. Future versions will also disable the REST API by default in the standalone master by changing the default value of 'spark.master.rest.enabled' to 'false'.

Weakness: CWE-287

Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-11770?

4 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.10 and org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.11. It affects 1 product.

Products include Apache Spark.

How do I fix CVE-2018-11770?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-11770 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.

Is CVE-2018-11770 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2018-11770 exists.

Public exploit code: 1 Metasploit module and 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.

Other vulnerabilities in Apache Spark

• CVE-2022-33891 Apache Spark Command Injection Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2020-9480 Improper Authentication in Apache Spark Critical 9.8
• CVE-2018-17190 Remote Code Execution in spark-core Critical 9.8
• CVE-2019-20445 HTTP Request Smuggling in Netty Critical 9.1
• CVE-2025-54920 Apache Spark: Spark History Server Code Execution Vulnerability High 8.8

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-w4r4-65mg-45x2.