CVE-2015-4166
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 · uneditedCloudera Key Trustee Server before 5.4.3 does not store keys synchronously, which might allow attackers to have unspecified impact via vectors related to loss of an encryption key.
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 · moderate confidenceCloudera Key Trustee Server before version 5.4.3 has a race condition or timing vulnerability where encryption keys are not stored synchronously. This asynchronous storage behavior can cause keys to be lost or temporarily unavailable, potentially allowing attackers to gain access to encrypted data or bypass encryption controls entirely.
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<= 5.4.2CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if Cloudera Key Trustee Server is installedCheck for the presence of Cloudera Key Trustee Server components on the system using package managers, service listings, or installed software inventoriesAffected if The software is not present on the system
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Determine the installed version of Cloudera Key Trustee ServerUse the appropriate command or configuration file to retrieve the installed version number, such as querying the package manager, checking the service version, or examining the product-specific version fileAffected if The installed version is 5.4.2 or any version lower than 5.4.2
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Verify if Key Trustee Server key management is actively in useCheck whether the server is managing encryption keys by examining active key stores, key usage logs, or configuration settings that indicate key generation or storage operationsAffected if The key management feature is not configured or in use
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Check for symptoms of key availability issuesReview logs, monitoring alerts, or audit records for events indicating key unavailability, failed decryption attempts, or key storage errors that could align with the asynchronous storage timing vulnerabilityAffected if Recent key unavailability or loss events are observed and the version is affected
The environment is affected if Cloudera Key Trustee Server version 5.4.2 or lower is installed and actively managing encryption keys
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedUpgrade Cloudera Key Trustee Server to version 5.4.3 or later. If immediate upgrade is not possible, implement additional monitoring and backup procedures for encryption keys to mitigate potential loss scenarios.
5.4.3 or later (Cloudera Key Trustee Server)
- Verify current Key Trustee Server version using package manager or Cloudera Manager
- Backup all encryption keys and configuration data according to Cloudera backup documentation
- Stop Key Trustee Server services
- Upgrade Key Trustee Server to version 5.4.3 or later using Cloudera Manager or package manager (yum/apt)
- Verify the upgrade completed successfully
- Restart Key Trustee Server services
- Confirm key storage operations complete synchronously by testing key creation and retrieval
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing24.0 h
- Review / QA12.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $16,384.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-4166 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-4166 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data