HadoopApplication · Apache
CVE-2018-11765
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 versions 3.0.0-alpha2 to 3.0.0, 2.9.0 to 2.9.2, 2.8.0 to 2.8.5, any users can access some servlets without authentication when Kerberos authentication is enabled and SPNEGO through HTTP is not enabled.
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 confidenceIn affected Apache Hadoop versions, when Kerberos authentication is enabled but SPNEGO through HTTP is not configured, certain servlets can be accessed without any authentication, allowing unauthenticated users to bypass security controls and potentially access sensitive data or perform unauthorized operations.
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
>= 2.8.0, <= 2.8.5>= 2.9.0, <= 2.9.2= 3.0.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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.
-
Identify installed Hadoop versionRun 'hadoop version' or check the Hadoop distribution package metadata to determine the exact version number.Affected if Version is 2.8.0-2.8.5, 2.9.0-2.9.2, or 3.0.0
-
Verify Kerberos authentication is enabledInspect the core-site.xml configuration file for property 'hadoop.security.authentication' - its value should be 'kerberos' when Kerberos is enabled.Affected if The property is set to 'kerberos' (not 'simple' or absent)
-
Check if SPNEGO HTTP authentication is configuredInspect core-site.xml for properties 'hadoop.http.authentication.type' and 'hadoop.http.authentication.kerberos.principal' - if these are missing or set to 'simple', SPNEGO is not configured.Affected if SPNEGO is not configured (properties missing or using simple auth)
-
Confirm web UI is accessible without authenticationAttempt to access Hadoop NameNode or ResourceManager web UI over HTTP without providing any Kerberos credentials or SPNEGO ticket.Affected if The web interface loads without redirecting to a Kerberos authentication prompt
User is affected if running an affected Hadoop version with Kerberos authentication enabled but SPNEGO through HTTP not configured, resulting in unauthenticated access to web interfaces.
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 dataEnable SPNEGO through HTTP for Hadoop web interfaces (UI, REST APIs) when Kerberos authentication is in use to ensure proper authentication enforcement across all servlets.
Fix this in Hadoop
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $3,648.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-11765 — 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-2018-11765 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