AmbariApplication · Apache
CVE-2016-6807
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 · uneditedCustom commands may be executed on Ambari Agent (2.4.x, before 2.4.2) hosts without authorization, leading to unauthorized access to operations that may affect the underlying system. Such operations are invoked by the Ambari Agent process on Ambari Agent hosts, as the user executing the Ambari Agent process.
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 confidenceApache Ambari Agent 2.4.x before 2.4.2 lacks proper authorization checks, allowing unauthenticated attackers to execute custom commands on agent hosts. These commands run with the privileges of the Ambari Agent process user, potentially compromising the underlying system.
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
AmbariApplication
= 2.4.0= 2.4.1CVSS 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 installed Ambari Agent versionRun 'ambari-agent --version' or check the package: 'rpm -qa | grep ambari-agent' (RHEL/CentOS) or 'dpkg -l | grep ambari-agent' (Debian)Affected if The version shown is 2.4.0 or 2.4.1
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Verify Ambari Agent package detailsRun 'rpm -qi ambari-agent' or 'dpkg -s ambari-agent' to display package metadata including version release informationAffected if The Version field reads 2.4.0 or 2.4.1
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Check agent version fileInspect the version file typically located at /var/lib/ambari-agent/version or /usr/lib/ambari-agent/version if presentAffected if The file contains only '2.4.0' or '2.4.1' as the version identifier
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Confirm agent is operationalRun 'ps aux | grep ambari-agent' to verify the Ambari Agent process is running, and check if it listens on a network port (e.g., netstat -tlnp | grep ambari)Affected if The agent is running AND its version is 2.4.0 or 2.4.1
You are affected if the Ambari Agent is installed with version 2.4.0 or 2.4.1 and is actively running.
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 Ambari to version 2.4.2 or later which implements proper authorization checks for custom commands.
Ambari 2.4.2 or later
- Schedule a maintenance window for the Ambari upgrade
- Back up the Ambari server and Ambari Agent configurations
- Stop the Ambari Server and Ambari Agent services
- Upgrade Ambari Server from version 2.4.0 or 2.4.1 to version 2.4.2 or later using the Ambari upgrade documentation
- Upgrade all Ambari Agents to version 2.4.2 or later on all managed hosts
- Start the Ambari Server and verify it runs correctly
- Start all Ambari Agents and confirm they register successfully
- Verify that custom commands now require proper authorization and cannot be executed without authentication
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Ambari
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-6807 — 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-2016-6807 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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- 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
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