RangerApplication · Apache
CVE-2016-0733
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 · uneditedThe Admin UI in Apache Ranger before 0.5.1 does not properly handle authentication requests that lack a password, which allows remote attackers to bypass authentication by leveraging knowledge of a valid username.
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 confidenceThe Apache Ranger Admin UI before version 0.5.1 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability where authentication requests submitted without a password are improperly validated, allowing remote attackers with knowledge of a valid username to gain unauthorized administrative access to the Ranger Admin UI.
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
<= 0.5.0CVSS 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 Apache Ranger versionLocate and inspect the Ranger version file or check the Ranger Admin UI 'About' page. Common methods include checking /usr/lib/ranger/VERSION or accessing the /login page footer version info.Affected if Installed version is 0.5.0 or earlier (any version <= 0.5.0).
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Confirm Ranger Admin UI is deployedVerify the Ranger Admin UI web application is running. Check if the Ranger Admin service is active and the UI is accessible on the configured port (default 6080).Affected if Ranger Admin UI is actively running and accessible.
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Assess network exposure of Admin UIReview firewall rules, network configurations, or load balancer settings to determine if the Ranger Admin UI port is exposed to networks outside the trusted internal network.Affected if Ranger Admin UI port is reachable from untrusted or public networks.
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Verify authentication mechanismIf possible, test authentication by submitting a login request with a valid username and an empty or null password field to the Ranger login endpoint.Affected if Authentication accepts the request and grants access with an empty password.
The environment is affected if Apache Ranger version is 0.5.0 or earlier AND the Ranger Admin UI is accessible to remote attackers.
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 Apache Ranger to version 0.5.1 or later to remediate this authentication bypass vulnerability. In the interim, ensure the Ranger Admin UI is not directly exposed to untrusted networks.
0.5.1
- 1. Download Apache Ranger version 0.5.1 or later from the official Apache releases repository
- 2. Backup your current Ranger configuration, database, and policy files
- 3. Stop the Apache Ranger service
- 4. Upgrade Ranger by deploying the new 0.5.1 (or later) version packages
- 5. Restore your backed-up configuration and policies
- 6. Start the Ranger service
- 7. Verify the authentication bypass is fixed by testing login with valid usernames both with and without passwords
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Ranger
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-0733 — 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-2016-0733 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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