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RangerApplication · Apache

CVE-2015-5167

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-04-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 0.5.0 or later.
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 Policy Admin Tool in Apache Ranger before 0.5.1 allows remote authenticated users to bypass intended access restrictions via the REST API.

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 Ranger before version 0.5.1 contains an authorization bypass vulnerability in the Policy Admin Tool's REST API. Authenticated users can bypass intended access restrictions, potentially allowing them to access or modify security policies they should not have permission to modify.

MitigationUpgrade Apache Ranger to version 0.5.1 or later to obtain the patch that properly enforces authorization checks in the REST API.

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
RangerApplication
Affected:<= 0.5.0

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

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

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 Apache Ranger version
    Run 'ranger-admin version' or check the ranger-admin package version (e.g., rpm -q ranger-admin, dpkg -l ranger-admin)
    Affected if Version is 0.5.0 or lower (any version <= 0.5.0)
  2. Confirm Policy Admin Tool REST API is accessible
    Verify the Ranger admin web UI or REST API endpoints are reachable (typically on port 6080)
    Affected if The Policy Admin Tool REST API is exposed and accessible
  3. Verify authentication is enabled
    Check that Ranger requires authentication for admin functions - attempt an unauthenticated request to the REST API endpoint and confirm it is rejected
    Affected if The REST API accepts requests without proper authentication enforcement

A user is affected if Apache Ranger version is 0.5.0 or lower AND the Policy Admin Tool REST API is accessible with authentication that does not properly enforce authorization boundaries.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 0.5.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Apache Ranger to version 0.5.1 or later to obtain the patch that properly enforces authorization checks in the REST API.

Fix this in Ranger Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,120
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,192.

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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-2015-5167 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data