CVE-2016-4948
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 · uneditedMultiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in Cloudera Manager 5.5 and earlier allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the (1) Template Name field when renaming a template; (2) KDC Server host, (3) Kerberos Security Realm, (4) Kerberos Encryption Types, (5) Advanced Configuration Snippet (Safety Valve) for [libdefaults] section of krb5.conf, (6) Advanced Configuration Snippet (Safety Valve) for the Default Realm in krb5.conf, (7) Advanced Configuration Snippet (Safety Valve) for remaining krb5.conf, or (8) Active Directory Account Prefix fields in the Kerberos wizard; or (9) classicWizard parameter to cmf/cloudera-director/redirect.
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 confidenceMultiple stored XSS vulnerabilities in Cloudera Manager 5.5 and earlier allow remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via multiple Kerberos configuration fields (KDC Server host, Kerberos Security Realm, Encryption Types, various krb5.conf safety valves, AD Account Prefix) and the classicWizard parameter in cmf/cloudera-director/redirect.
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<= 5.5.0CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Check Cloudera Manager versionLog into Cloudera Manager admin UI and navigate to Support > About, or run 'cloudera-manager-server --version' from the command line on the CM host. Compare the version number to the affected range: any version <= 5.5.0 is vulnerable.Affected if Installed version is 5.5.0 or earlier
-
Verify Kerberos configuration accessNavigate to Administration > Security > Kerberos in the Cloudera Manager UI. Check if you have access to configure Kerberos settings or if the Kerberos wizard has been used.Affected if Kerberos configuration interface is accessible or has been configured
-
Inspect KDC Server host fieldIn Kerberos configuration settings, locate the 'KDC Server Host' or 'kdc_host' field. Examine any custom values entered in this field or in related krb5.conf safety valve configurations.Affected if Custom values have been entered in KDC Server host or related krb5.conf safety valve fields
-
Inspect Kerberos Security Realm fieldLocate the 'Kerberos Security Realm' or 'realm' parameter in the Kerberos settings. Check for any manually entered realm values in the configuration.Affected if Custom realm values exist in Kerberos configuration
-
Inspect AD Account Prefix and Encryption TypesCheck the 'AD Account Prefix' and 'Encryption Types' settings within the Kerberos configuration or LDAP/Kerberos integration settings. Look for any custom values entered.Affected if Custom values exist in AD Account Prefix, Encryption Types, or related advanced Kerberos settings
-
Check classicWizard parameter exposureReview web server logs or access logs for requests to '/cmf/cloudera-director/redirect' with a 'classicWizard' parameter. This is an older Cloudera Director endpoint.Affected if Requests to cmf/cloudera-director/redirect with classicWizard parameter are present in logs
A user is affected if running Cloudera Manager version 5.5.0 or earlier AND the Kerberos configuration wizard or Director redirect functionality has been used with user-supplied values in the affected fields.
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.
From vendor dataUpgrade to a patched version of Cloudera Manager beyond 5.5, or apply proper input validation and output encoding to all affected configuration fields in the Kerberos wizard and template management interfaces.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4948 — 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-2016-4948 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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