Information disclosure in Apache Cassandra

1) Cleartext transmission of sensitive information

EUVDB-ID: #VU50246

Risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 1.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-17516

CWE-ID: CWE-319 - Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to gain access to sensitive information.

The vulnerability exists due to software uses insecure communication channel to transmit sensitive information when using "dc" or "rack" internode_encryption setting. A remote attacker can use unencrypted connection despite not being in the same rack or dc, and bypass mutual TLS requirement.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Cassandra: 2.1 - 3.11.9

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:a:apache_foundation:cassandra:2.1.22:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:apache_foundation:cassandra:2.2.19:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:apache_foundation:cassandra:3.0.23:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:a:apache_foundation:cassandra:3.11.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

https://seclists.org/oss-sec/2021/q1/96

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

How the attacker can exploit this vulnerability?

The attacker would have to send a specially crafted request to the affected application in order to exploit this vulnerability.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.