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HadoopApplication · Apache

CVE-2012-4449

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-10-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 0.23.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Apache Hadoop before 0.23.4, 1.x before 1.0.4, and 2.x before 2.0.2 generate token passwords using a 20-bit secret when Kerberos security features are enabled, which makes it easier for context-dependent attackers to crack secret keys via a brute-force attack.

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

Apache Hadoop versions before 0.23.4, 1.0.4, and 2.0.2 use a weak 20-bit secret key for generating Kerberos token passwords. This extremely small keyspace (approximately 1 million possible keys) allows attackers to easily brute-force the secret keys and impersonate users or services in the Hadoop cluster.

MitigationUpgrade Hadoop to version 0.23.4+, 1.0.4+, or 2.0.2+ which implements a cryptographically stronger key generation mechanism, and regenerate all existing Kerberos tokens and service principals.

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:<= 0.23.3= 1.0.0= 1.0.1= 1.0.2= 1.0.3= 2.0.0= 2.0.1= 2.0.2

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 distribution package installed on your NameNode or edge node
    Affected if The version is 0.23.3 or earlier, 1.0.0-1.0.3, or 2.0.0-2.0.1 (any version before 0.23.4, 1.0.4, or 2.0.2)
  2. Confirm Kerberos authentication is in use
    Inspect core-site.xml for 'hadoop.security.authentication' set to 'kerberos', or check if keytab files and kinit are used in your cluster
    Affected if Kerberos authentication is enabled, as the vulnerability exploits weak secret keys in Kerberos token password generation
  3. Check for token generation configuration
    Review hadoop-site.xml or core-site.xml for settings related to 'token' or 'secret' key management, particularly any custom secret key configurations
    Affected if Default secret key generation is in use without custom cryptographic strengthening

You are affected if your Hadoop version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND Kerberos/token-based authentication is enabled in your cluster.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 0.23.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Hadoop to version 0.23.4+, 1.0.4+, or 2.0.2+ which implements a cryptographically stronger key generation mechanism, and regenerate all existing Kerberos tokens and service principals.

Recommended fix High confidence

Minimum: 0.23.4 (for 0.23.x), 1.0.4 (for 1.x), or 2.0.2 (for 2.x); recommended: latest stable release in your branch

  1. Identify the current Hadoop version in use (check hadoop version command or pom.xml)
  2. Determine which branch of Hadoop is in use: 0.23.x, 1.x, or 2.x
  3. For 0.23.x branch: upgrade to version 0.23.4 or later (0.23.4, 0.23.5, etc.)
  4. For 1.x branch: upgrade to version 1.0.4 or later (1.0.4, 1.1.x, etc.)
  5. For 2.x branch: upgrade to version 2.0.2 or later (2.0.2, 2.x, etc.)
  6. After upgrading, restart Hadoop services
  7. Verify Kerberos authentication is functioning correctly with the new version
  8. Confirm token generation now uses sufficiently strong cryptographic secrets
Caveat Upgrading across major versions (e.g., 1.x to 2.x) may require configuration and compatibility checks; review Hadoop upgrade guides

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Hadoop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,400
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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-2012-4449 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
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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