CVE-2020-9480

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).

Category

9.8
CVSS
Severity: Critical
CVSS 3.1 •
CVSS 2.0 •
EPSS 80.98% Top 5%
Vendor Advisory apache.org
Affected: Apache Software Foundation Apache Spark
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2020-9480?
CVE-2020-9480 has been scored as a critical severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2020-9480?
To fix CVE-2020-9480, make sure you are using an up-to-date version of the affected component(s) by checking the vendor release notes. As for now, there are no other specific guidelines available.
Is CVE-2020-9480 being actively exploited in the wild?
It is possible that CVE-2020-9480 is being exploited or will be exploited in a near future based on public information. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~81% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
What software or system is affected by CVE-2020-9480?
CVE-2020-9480 affects Apache Software Foundation Apache Spark.
This platform uses data from the NIST NVD, MITRE CVE, MITRE CWE, First.org and CISA KEV but is not endorsed or certified by these entities. CVE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. CWE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CWE content is MITRE's CWE web site.
© 2025 Under My Watch. All Rights Reserved.