Apache Spark UI can allow impersonation if ACLs enabled

CVE-2022-33891 → View on GitHub ↗ View on CVE.org ↗ View on NVD ↗

Description

The Apache Spark UI offers the possibility to enable ACLs via the configuration option spark.acls.enable. With an authentication filter, this checks whether a user has access permissions to view or modify the application. If ACLs are enabled, a code path in HttpSecurityFilter can allow someone to perform impersonation by providing an arbitrary user name. A malicious user might then be able to reach a permission check function that will ultimately build a Unix shell command based on their input, and execute it. This will result in arbitrary shell command execution as the user Spark is currently running as. This affects Apache Spark versions 3.0.3 and earlier, versions 3.1.1 to 3.1.2, and versions 3.2.0 to 3.2.1.

A previous version of this advisory incorrectly stated that version 3.1.3 was not vulnerable. Per GHSA-59hw-j9g6-mfg3, version 3.1.3 is vulnerable and vulnerable version ranges in this advisory have been changed to reflect the correct information.

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
high
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
—
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2022-07-19 00:00:29 UTC
Updated
2026-06-09 12:58:12 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2022-07-21 21:40:46 UTC
NVD published
2022-07-18

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
93.51% 99.81%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
8.8 3.1 —
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:H 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:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
Exploit maturity (E:H)
Exploits are easy to find or already weaponized—assume people are using them.
8.7 4.0 —
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N/E:A Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and stable.
Attack requirements (AT:N)
No additional preconditions are required beyond normal reachability.
Privileges required (PR:L)
Low privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:N)
No user interaction is required.
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:H)
High confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:H)
High integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:H)
High availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:L)
Limited confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:L)
Limited integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:N)
No availability impact on subsequent systems.
Exploit maturity (threat) (E:A)
Attacked: exploitation has been reported, or toolkits exist that simplify exploitation.

Identifiers

Type Value
GHSA GHSA-4x9r-j582-cgr8 ↗
CVE CVE-2022-33891 ↗

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

Credits

  • alowayed (analyst)

Affected packages (4)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
maven org.apache.spark:spark-parent_2.12 <= 3.0.3 — —
maven org.apache.spark:spark-parent_2.12 >= 3.1.1, < 3.2.2 3.2.2 —
pip pyspark >= 0, < 3.1.3 3.1.3 —
pip pyspark >= 3.2.0, < 3.2.2 3.2.2 —

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence