HadoopApplication · Apache
CVE-2016-5393
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 · uneditedIn Apache Hadoop 2.6.x before 2.6.5 and 2.7.x before 2.7.3, a remote user who can authenticate with the HDFS NameNode can possibly run arbitrary commands with the same privileges as the HDFS service.
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 confidenceThis is a privilege escalation vulnerability in Apache Hadoop HDFS where a remote user who can authenticate to the HDFS NameNode can execute arbitrary commands with the same privileges as the HDFS service account. This allows a low-privileged authenticated user to gain service-level access to the Hadoop cluster.
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
= 2.7.0= 2.7.1= 2.7.2= 2.6.0= 2.6.1= 2.6.2= 2.6.3= 2.6.4CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 installed Hadoop versionRun 'hadoop version' or check the Hadoop JAR files in the installation directory. Look for the exact version number in the output.Affected if The version is exactly 2.7.0, 2.7.1, 2.7.2, 2.6.0, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.6.3, or 2.6.4
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Verify HDFS NameNode is accessibleCheck if the NameNode process is running (ps aux | grep namenode) and if the HDFS ports (typically 9000 or 8020) are listening. Try 'hdfs dfsadmin -report' to confirm HDFS is operational.Affected if The NameNode is running and accepts authenticated connections
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Confirm HDFS authentication is enabledCheck the hdfs-site.xml configuration file for 'dfs.namenode.authentication-enabled' or verify that Kerberos or other authentication is configured for HDFS. Attempt to authenticate to HDFS as a low-privileged user using 'kinit' (if Kerberos) or basic auth.Affected if Users can authenticate to the NameNode with low-privileged credentials
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Check for exposed HDFS NameNode serviceReview network exposure of the NameNode. Determine if the NameNode UI (port 50070 typically) or RPC service is accessible from untrusted networks. Use 'netstat -tlnp | grep -E "9000|8020|50070"' to identify listening ports.Affected if The NameNode service is network-accessible to the user in question
If the installed Hadoop version is one of the affected versions AND the HDFS NameNode is running and accessible with authenticated user access, the environment is vulnerable to privilege escalation via CVE-2016-5393.
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 Apache Hadoop to version 2.6.5 or later (for 2.6.x branches) or 2.7.3 or later (for 2.7.x branches). Prior to upgrade, ensure staging environment testing and rollback plans are in place.
Fix this in Hadoop
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation24.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $14,080.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-5393 — 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-2016-5393 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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