Remote Code Execution in spark-core

Description

In all versions of Apache Spark, its standalone resource manager accepts code to execute on a 'master' host, that then runs that code on 'worker' hosts. The master itself does not, by design, execute user code. A specially-crafted request to the master can, however, cause the master to execute code too. Note that this does not affect standalone clusters with authentication enabled. While the master host typically has less outbound access to other resources than a worker, the execution of code on the master is nevertheless unexpected.

Mitigation

Enable authentication on any Spark standalone cluster that is not otherwise secured from unwanted access, for example by network-level restrictions. Use spark.authenticate and related security properties described at https://spark.apache.org/docs/latest/security.html

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
critical
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Source code
Not specified
Published (advisory)
2018-11-21 22:19:30 UTC
Updated
2023-01-09 05:04:19 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2020-06-16 21:49:15 UTC

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
1.21% 78.52%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
9.8 3.0
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A: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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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.

Identifiers

Affected packages (2)

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

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
maven org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.11 >= 0
maven org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.10 >= 0

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence