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Man-in-the-middle attack in Apache Cassandra

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published May 7, 2021 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Feb 1, 2023

Package

maven org.apache.cassandra:cassandra-all (Maven)

Affected versions

>= 2.1.0, < 2.1.12
>= 2.2.0, < 2.2.18
>= 3.0.0, < 3.0.22
>= 3.11.0, < 3.11.8
= 4.0-beta1

Patched versions

2.1.12
2.2.18
3.0.22
3.11.8
4.0-beta2

Description

In Apache Cassandra, all versions prior to 2.1.22, 2.2.18, 3.0.22, 3.11.8 and 4.0-beta2, it is possible for a local attacker without access to the Apache Cassandra process or configuration files to manipulate the RMI registry to perform a man-in-the-middle attack and capture user names and passwords used to access the JMX interface. The attacker can then use these credentials to access the JMX interface and perform unauthorised operations. Users should also be aware of CVE-2019-2684, a JRE vulnerability that enables this issue to be exploited remotely.

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Sep 1, 2020
Reviewed May 5, 2021
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database May 7, 2021
Last updated Feb 1, 2023

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

EPSS score

0.064%
(29th percentile)

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2020-13946

GHSA ID

GHSA-24ww-mc5x-xc43

Source code

No known source code
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