CVE-2021-40331 | Permissions problem in the Apache Ranger Hive Plugin

An Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource vulnerability was found in the Apache Ranger Hive Plugin. Any user with SELECT privilege on a database can alter the ownership of the table in Hive when Apache Ranger Hive Plugin is enabled This issue affects Apache Ranger Hive Plugin: from 2.0.0 through 2.3.0. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 2.4.0 or later.

Published: 2023-05-05 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-40331 is rated Moderate Risk (50.7/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.28%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-40331

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-30 0.15% 0.28% +0.14%
2 2026-05-24 0.16% 0.15% -0.01%
3 2026-05-22 — 0.16% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-40331

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.8 5.2 [email protected]
8.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.8 5.2 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-40331

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-40331

GHSA-vjr2-wpfh-5r9p · Severity: high · Ecosystem: maven — Apache Ranger Hive Plugin missing permissions check

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-40331

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache ranger >= 2.0.0, <= 2.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:apache:ranger:*:*:*:*:*:hive:*:*

References for CVE-2021-40331

URL Tags
https://lists.apache.org/thread/s68yls6cnkdmzn1k4hqt50vs6wjvt2rn Issue Tracking Patch Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence