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Missing authorization in Apache Pulsar transaction admin endpoints

Priority LOW 13CWE-862Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
Present
Impact type
Security bypass
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
Low · None · None
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-862.

Summary

Apache Pulsar from 2.8.0 before 4.0.14 and from 4.1.0 before 4.2.5 has missing authorization (CWE-862) in its transaction administration REST API under /admin/v3/transactions. Read endpoints check only that the caller is authenticated, not whether they may access the tenant, namespace or topic whose data is returned. Any authenticated user, even one with no granted permissions, can read transaction coordinator and transaction metadata of other tenants when transaction support is enabled. The flaw does not allow reading message contents or changing transactions.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30

Description from the CNA

The Apache Pulsar broker exposes a transaction administration REST API under /admin/v3/transactions. When authentication and authorization are enabled, most of the read endpoints of this API verify only that the request is authenticated and that the broker serves the requested topic or transaction coordinator. They do not check whether the caller is permitted to access the tenant, namespace or topic whose data is returned. The endpoints that modify state, which abort a transaction or scale the transaction coordinators, correctly require super-user access and are not affected. As a result, any authenticated user, including one that has been granted no permissions, can read transaction coordinator and transaction information belonging to other tenants. This includes the list of transaction coordinators with the broker service URLs that serve them, transaction coordinator statistics and internal statistics, transaction metadata including the names of the topics and subscriptions a transaction involves and the principal that opened it, the list of long-running transactions on a transaction coordinator, transaction buffer and pending acknowledgement statistics and internal statistics for any topic and subscription, and whether a given message position of a subscription is currently held in a pending transactional acknowledgement. The disclosure of transaction metadata and statistics can only occur when transaction support is enabled in the broker (transactionCoordinatorEnabled, which is disabled by default). When transaction support is disabled, these endpoints return no transaction data; the only residual effect is that one endpoint's error response can reveal whether a named topic exists in another tenant. The impact is limited to disclosure of transaction-related metadata and statistics across tenant boundaries. The issue does not allow reading message contents, modifying or aborting transactions, or changing any configuration. This issue affects Apache Pulsar versions from 2.8.0 before 4.0.14 and from 4.1.0 before 4.2.5. - 4.0.x version users should upgrade to at least 4.0.14. - 4.1.x and 4.2.x version users should upgrade to at least 4.2.5. Users operating versions prior to those listed above should upgrade to the aforementioned patched versions or newer versions. The currently supported Apache Pulsar release lines are 4.0.x and 5.0.x. The supported versions schedule is available at https://pulsar.apache.org/contribute/release-policy/. Users who cannot upgrade immediately and do not use Pulsar transactions should keep transaction support disabled. Where transactions are required, restricting network access to the broker's admin HTTP endpoints to trusted administrative clients reduces the exposure.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00504 43rd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed Apache Pulsar (Apache Software Foundation): 4.0.14, 4.2.5

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
ApacheApache Pulsar2.8.0 to before 4.0.14; 4.1.0 to before 4.2.54.0.14, 4.2.5Patch availableCNA
  • Apache Pulsar VendorApache Affected 2.8.0 to before 4.0.14; 4.1.0 to before 4.2.5 Fixed in 4.0.14, 4.2.5 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:apache:pulsar:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——Apache
  • cpe:2.3:a:apache:pulsar:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Apache

Remediation

Upgrade Apache Pulsar 4.0.x to 4.0.14 or later, and 4.1.x and 4.2.x to 4.2.5 or later. Users who cannot upgrade and do not use transactions should keep transaction support disabled, and restricting network access to the broker's admin HTTP endpoints to trusted clients reduces exposure.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30

  • Fix · CNA Apache Pulsar (Apache Software Foundation) Fixed in 4.0.14, 4.2.5

Fixed in the same release

Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.

  • Release ·

    Apache Pulsar 4.0.14, 4.2.5

    14 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 1 MEDIUM, 13 LOW

    Other records, highest priority first

    • TI-2026-78917 Apache Pulsar accepts unverified token roles on anonymous requestsPriority MEDIUM 41
    • TI-2026-78944 Apache Pulsar shadow topics lack authorization on source topicsPriority LOW 39
    • TI-2026-78948 Path traversal in Apache Pulsar exposes packages of other tenantsPriority LOW 36

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-21 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-105931
  2. 2026-10-21 Alias added: GHSA-jcv9-8hfx-9w7x
  3. 2026-10-30 CISA SSVC decision points changed

References

  • TI-2025-18529 Apache Tomcat: Potential RCE and/or information disclosure and/or information corruption with partial PUT KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
  • TI-2024-30292 Apache OFBiz: Confused controller-view authorization logic (forced browsing) KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2024-26062 Apache OFBiz: Unauthenticated endpoint could allow execution of screen rendering code KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2024-21190 Apache OFBiz: Path traversal leading to RCE KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2024-18186 Apache HugeGraph-Server: Command execution in gremlin KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2023-25106 Deserialization of untrusted data in Apache ActiveMQ KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
See all 4053 →

Sources