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HadoopApplication · Apache

CVE-2012-1574

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-04-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The Kerberos/MapReduce security functionality in Apache Hadoop 0.20.203.0 through 0.20.205.0, 0.23.x before 0.23.2, and 1.0.x before 1.0.2, as used in Cloudera CDH CDH3u0 through CDH3u2, Cloudera hadoop-0.20-sbin before 0.20.2+923.197, and other products, allows remote authenticated users to impersonate arbitrary cluster user accounts via unspecified vectors.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The vulnerability exists in Apache Hadoop's Kerberos/MapReduce security implementation across versions 0.20.203.0-0.20.205.0, 0.23.x before 0.23.2, and 1.0.x before 1.0.2. An authenticated remote user can impersonate arbitrary cluster user accounts due to insufficient validation in the security functionality.

MitigationUpgrade Apache Hadoop to version 0.20.205.0, 0.23.2, 1.0.2 or later; Cloudera CDH users should upgrade to CDH3u3 or later and apply relevant security patches.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
HadoopApplication
Affected:= 0.20.203.0= 0.20.204.0= 0.20.205.0= 0.23.0= 0.23.1= 1.0.0= 1.0.1
Cloudera CdhApplication
Affected:= cdh3
HadoopApplication
Affected:= 0.20-sbin= 0.20.1\+169= 0.20.2\+923

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
Single
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Hadoop version
    Run 'hadoop version' or check the hadoop-core JAR file version in the installation directory. On Red Hat/CentOS systems, also try 'rpm -qa | grep hadoop'. For Cloudera CDH, check with 'rpm -qa | grep -i hadoop' or 'dpkg -l | grep hadoop' on Debian/Ubuntu.
    Affected if The installed version falls within 0.20.203.0 through 0.20.205.0, 0.23.0-0.23.1, 1.0.0-1.0.1, or matches Cloudera versions cdh3, 0.20-sbin, 0.20.1+169, or 0.20.2+923.
  2. Verify if Kerberos security is enabled
    Inspect the core-site.xml configuration file (typically in $HADOOP_HOME/conf/ or /etc/hadoop/conf/) and look for the property 'hadoop.security.authentication'. If this property exists and is set to 'kerberos', then Kerberos authentication is enabled.
    Affected if The property 'hadoop.security.authentication' is set to 'kerberos', indicating Kerberos security is active.
  3. Check MapReduce security configuration
    Inspect the mapred-site.xml configuration file (or mapred-site.xml in older Hadoop versions) and look for the property 'mapreduce.jobtracker.kerberos.principal' or 'mapreduce.jobtracker.authentication.kerberos.principal'. Also check for 'mapreduce.jobtracker.authentication.type' set to 'kerberos'.
    Affected if MapReduce jobtracker is configured to use Kerberos principals, indicating MapReduce security is enabled.
  4. Confirm security is actually enforced at runtime
    Check if the Hadoop daemons (NameNode, JobTracker) are started with Kerberos principal keytab files. Look for environment variables HADOOP_SECURE_DN_USER or check init scripts for '-keytab' arguments. Also verify that 'hadoop.security.authorization' is set to 'true' in core-site.xml.
    Affected if 'hadoop.security.authorization' is set to 'true' in core-site.xml and Kerberos keytabs are in use by Hadoop daemons.

A user is affected if they are running a vulnerable Hadoop version (0.20.203.0-0.20.205.0, 0.23.0-0.23.1, 1.0.0-1.0.1, or Cloudera cdh3/0.20-sbin/0.20.1+169/0.20.2+923) with Kerberos or MapReduce security enabled.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Apache Hadoop to version 0.20.205.0, 0.23.2, 1.0.2 or later; Cloudera CDH users should upgrade to CDH3u3 or later and apply relevant security patches.

Fix this in Hadoop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $7,000
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-1574 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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