Missing authentication in Apache Spark
Priority HIGH 65CWE-306Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-306.
Summary
In Apache Spark 2.4.5 and earlier, a standalone resource manager's master may be configured to require authentication (spark.authenticate) via a shared secret. When enabled, however, a specially-crafted RPC to the master can succeed in starting an application's resources on the Spark cluster, even without the shared key. This can be leveraged to execute shell commands on the host machine. This does not affect Spark clusters using other resource managers (YARN, Mesos, etc).
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.29157 98th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed org.apache.spark:spark-parent_2.11 (Maven): 2.4.6pyspark (PyPI): 2.4.6
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache | Apache Spark | Apache Spark 2.4.5 and earlier | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| — | org.apache.spark:spark-parent_2.11 (Maven) | before 2.4.6 | 2.4.6 | Patch available | GHSA-wgx7-jwwm-cgjv |
| — | pyspark (PyPI) | before 2.4.6 | 2.4.6 | Patch available | GHSA-wgx7-jwwm-cgjv |
- Apache Spark VendorApache Affected Apache Spark 2.4.5 and earlier Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- org.apache.spark:spark-parent_2.11 (Maven) Vendor— Affected before 2.4.6 Fixed in 2.4.6 Patch available GHSA-wgx7-jwwm-cgjv
- pyspark (PyPI) Vendor— Affected before 2.4.6 Fixed in 2.4.6 Patch available GHSA-wgx7-jwwm-cgjv
Remediation
- Fix · GHSA-wgx7-jwwm-cgjv org.apache.spark:spark-parent_2.11 (Maven) Fixed in 2.4.6 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-wgx7-jwwm-cgjv pyspark (PyPI) Fixed in 2.4.6 Advisory →
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Fuse 7
- Red Hat Integration Camel K 1
- Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 7
- Red Hat JBoss Fuse 6
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2020-9480
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-wgx7-jwwm-cgjv
References
Advisory 2
Other 9
- [spark-user] 20200803 Re: CVE-2020-9480: Apache Spark RCE vulnerability in auth-enabled standalone master
- [spark-dev] 20200803 Re: CVE-2020-9480: Apache Spark RCE vulnerability in auth-enabled standalone master
- [submarine-commits] 20201209 [GitHub] [submarine] QiAnXinCodeSafe opened a new issue #475: There is a vulnerability in Apache Spark 2.3.4,upgrade recommended
- [doris-commits] 20210402 [GitHub] [incubator-doris] zh0122 opened a new pull request #5593: [FE][Bug] Update Spark version to fix a security issue
- https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/pyspark/PYSEC-2020-95.yaml
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r03ad9fe7c07d6039fba9f2152d345274473cb0af3d8a4794a6645f4b@%3Cuser.spark.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra0e62a18ad080c4ce6df5e0202a27eaada75222761efc3f7238b5a3b@%3Ccommits.doris.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb3956440747e41940d552d377d50b144b60085e7ff727adb0e575d8d@%3Ccommits.submarine.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ree9e87aae81852330290a478692e36ea6db47a52a694545c7d66e3e2@%3Cdev.spark.apache.org%3E
More Apache Spark vulnerabilities
- TI-2022-14901 Apache Spark shell command injection vulnerability via Spark UI KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2023-15314 Apache Spark: Shell command injection via Spark UI CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2020-16549 Uncontrolled resource consumption in Eclipse Jetty CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.3
- TI-2019-14677 HttpObjectDecoder.java in Netty before 4.1.44 allows a Content-Length header to be… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2018-08427 Improper authentication in Apache Spark CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 4.2
- TI-2018-12289 In all versions of Apache Spark, its standalone resource manager accepts code to execute… CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2020-9480 · CVE Program
- CVE-2020-9480 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-wgx7-jwwm-cgjv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2020-9480 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences