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Critical

Missing Authentication for Critical Function in Apache Cassandra

  • Disclosed: 13.05.2022
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 12:21

The default configuration in Apache Cassandra 3.8 through 3.11.1 binds an unauthenticated JMX/RMI interface to all network interfaces, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary Java code via an RMI request. This issue is a regression of CVE-2015-0225. The regression was introduced in https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CASSANDRA-12109. The fix for the regression is implemented in https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CASSANDRA-14173. This fix is contained in the 3.11.2 release of Apache Cassandra.

Affected software

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PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Java / Kotlin (Maven) org.apache.cassandra:cassandra-all >= 3.8, < 3.11.2 3.11.2

References

CVSS score 9.8/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-306
Platform
Java / Kotlin (Maven)
Package
org.apache.cassandra:cassandra-all
Disclosed
13.05.2022
Updated
11.10.2026 12:21

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-52gq-7j6c-xw6x - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: org.apache.cassandra:cassandra-all

All published vulnerabilities of this package (Java / Kotlin (Maven)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

All (12) in the archive
Total entries
12
First → latest
05.2021 04.2026
Without a fix
0
Exploited in attacks
0

Severity breakdown

  • Critical 2
  • High 5
  • Medium 4
  • Low 1

Disclosures per year

Severity:
  1. Apache Cassandra is vulnerable to privilege escalation in an mTLS environment using MutualTlsAuthenticator
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-27314 >= 5.0-alpha1, < 5.0.7 5.0.7
  2. Apache Cassandra: User with MODIFY permission on ALL KEYSPACES can escalate privileges to superuser via unsafe actions (4.0.16 only)
    High · 8.8 CVE-2025-26467 >= 4.0.16, < 4.0.17 4.0.17
  3. Apache Cassandra: User with MODIFY permission on ALL KEYSPACES can escalate privileges to superuser via unsafe actions
    High · 8.8 CVE-2025-23015 >= 5.0-alpha1, < 5.0.3, >= 4.1-alpha1, < 4.1.8, >= 4.0-alpha1, < 4.0.16, >= 3.1, < 3.11.18, < 3.0.31 5.0.3, 4.1.8, 4.0.16, 3.11.18, 3.0.31
  4. Apache Cassandra: Privilege escalation when enabling FQL/Audit logs
    High · 7.8 CVE-2023-30601 >= 4.1.0, < 4.1.2, >= 4.0.0, < 4.0.10 4.1.2, 4.0.10
  5. Missing Authentication for Critical Function in Apache Cassandra this entry
    Critical · 9.8 CVE-2018-8016 >= 3.8, < 3.11.2 3.11.2
  6. Apache Cassandra vulnerable to Code Injection due to unsafe configuration
    Critical · 9.1 CVE-2021-44521 < 3.0.26, >= 3.11.0, < 3.11.12, >= 4.0.0, < 4.0.2 3.0.26, 3.11.12, 4.0.2
  7. Authentication Bypass in Apache Cassandra
    High · 7.5 CVE-2020-17516 >= 2.1.0, < 3.0.24, >= 3.11.0, < 3.11.10 3.0.24, 3.11.10

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