← Vulnerability feed

Vulnerability record · CVE-2020-9480 · published 23 June 2020

CVE-2020-9480: Apache spark missing authentication for critical function vulnerability

Apache · Spark

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).

9.8 CVSS 3.1 Critical EPSS 29% · top 1.9% CWE-306 · Missing authentication for critical function
9.8CVSS 3.1 base score, v2 9.3
29%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
2Affected product versions listed by NVD
12References
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

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).

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

2 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r03ad9fe7c07d6039fba9f2152d345274473cb0af3d8a4794a6645f4b%40%3Cuser.spark.apache.or
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra0e62a18ad080c4ce6df5e0202a27eaada75222761efc3f7238b5a3b%40%3Ccommits.doris.apache
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb3956440747e41940d552d377d50b144b60085e7ff727adb0e575d8d%40%3Ccommits.submarine.ap
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ree9e87aae81852330290a478692e36ea6db47a52a694545c7d66e3e2%40%3Cdev.spark.apache.org
https://spark.apache.org/security.html#CVE-2020-9480 Vendor Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuApr2021.html PatchThird Party Advisory
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r03ad9fe7c07d6039fba9f2152d345274473cb0af3d8a4794a6645f4b%40%3Cuser.spark.apache.or
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra0e62a18ad080c4ce6df5e0202a27eaada75222761efc3f7238b5a3b%40%3Ccommits.doris.apache
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb3956440747e41940d552d377d50b144b60085e7ff727adb0e575d8d%40%3Ccommits.submarine.ap
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ree9e87aae81852330290a478692e36ea6db47a52a694545c7d66e3e2%40%3Cdev.spark.apache.org
https://spark.apache.org/security.html#CVE-2020-9480 Vendor Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuApr2021.html PatchThird Party Advisory

Track CVE-2020-9480 inside VULONE

Watch it alongside the ransomware crews, C2 infrastructure and forum chatter that reference it, query it through the API and pull it into your SIEM over TAXII.

Start free Open in platform

Related vulnerabilities

Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

9.8CVE-2020-17530Apache Struts forced OGNL evaluation enables remote code executionApache Struts 2.0.0 through 2.5.25 performs forced OGNL evaluation on raw user input placed in tag attributes, allowing expression language injection…KEVEPSS 96%analysed8.8CVE-2022-33891Apache Spark UI ACL impersonation leads to OS command injectionApache Spark's UI ACL feature (spark.acls.enable) contains a flaw in HttpSecurityFilter where a user can supply an arbitrary username to impersonate …KEVEPSS 93%analysed7.5CVE-2020-14864Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition path traversal allows unauthenticated data accessOracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition contains a path traversal flaw in its Installation component affecting versions 5.5.0.0.0, 12.2.1.3.0…KEVEPSS 97%analysed6.1CVE-2020-11023jQuery DOM manipulation methods XSS via untrusted HTML option elementsjQuery versions 1.0.3 through before 3.5.0 execute untrusted code when HTML containing <option> elements from untrusted sources is passed to DOM mani…KEVEPSS 85%analysed9.9CVE-2023-22946Apache spark improper privilege management vulnerabilityIn Apache Spark versions prior to 3.4.0, applications using spark-submit can specify a 'proxy-user' to run as, limiting privileges. The application c…EPSS 1.1%9.8CVE-2022-23305Log4j 1.x JDBCAppender SQL injection via logged inputThe JDBCAppender in Log4j 1.2.x builds SQL statements from configuration parameters and PatternLayout converters, so logged values such as the %m mes…EPSS 67%analysed9.8CVE-2021-2456Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition unauthenticated takeoverOracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition 12.2.1.4.0 contains a flaw in the Analytics Web General component that is reachable over HTTP without…EPSS 81%analysed9.8CVE-2020-2950Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition unauthenticated takeoverOracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Analytics Web General) contains an easily exploitable flaw affecting versions 5.5.0.0.0, 11.1.1.9.0,…EPSS 71%analysed

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2020-9480), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.