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ImpalaApplication · Apache

CVE-2018-11792

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-10-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.0.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
In Apache Impala before 3.0.1, ALTER TABLE/VIEW RENAME required ALTER on the old table. This may pose a potential security risk, such as having ALTER on a table and ALL on a particular database allows a user to move the table to a database with ALL, which will automatically grant that user with ALL privilege on that table due to the privilege inherited from the database.

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 confidence

In Apache Impala before 3.0.1, the ALTER TABLE/VIEW RENAME operation only required ALTER privilege on the old table. This allowed privilege escalation: a user with ALTER on a table and ALL on a database could move the table to another database with ALL permission, automatically granting them ALL privilege on the moved table through inherited database permissions.

MitigationUpgrade to Apache Impala 3.0.1 or later, which enforces proper privilege validation during RENAME operations to prevent unauthorized privilege escalation.

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
ImpalaApplication
Affected:< 3.0.1

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the Apache Impala version
    Run 'impalad --version' or check the installed Impala package version through the package manager
    Affected if The version is lower than 3.0.1 (e.g., 3.0.0, 2.x, or earlier releases)
  2. Confirm the authorization framework is in use
    Check if Sentry authorization is enabled in Impala configuration files (sentry-site.xml or impala-side.xml in the cloudera安全管理 component or the enable_authorization flag in impalad defaults)
    Affected if Sentry authorization is enabled and the version is below 3.0.1
  3. Identify users with ALTER privilege on specific tables
    Query the Sentry database or audit tables for granted ALTER privileges on tables, combined with ALL privilege on any database
    Affected if A user has ALTER on a table and ALL on a database where the table could be moved to (this privilege combination enables the exploit)
  4. Review recent ALTER TABLE/VIEW RENAME operations in audit logs
    Examine Impala audit logs or the Sentry privilege change history for RENAME operations that may have resulted in unintended privilege inheritance
    Affected if RENAME operations were performed by users with the vulnerable privilege combination and the environment is below version 3.0.1

The environment is affected if Apache Impala version is below 3.0.1 and Sentry authorization is enabled with users possessing the specific ALTER+ALL privilege combination that enables the RENAME-based privilege escalation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.0.1 or later
Fixed in 3.0.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Apache Impala 3.0.1 or later, which enforces proper privilege validation during RENAME operations to prevent unauthorized privilege escalation.

Recommended fix High confidence

Impala 3.0.1

  1. 1. Review the Apache Impala 3.0.1 release notes and upgrade documentation for any specific migration requirements
  2. 2. Back up all Impala configuration files (impala.conf, Catalog Server, State Store configurations)
  3. 3. Stop all Impala services (Impala Daemon, Catalog Server, State Store)
  4. 4. Upgrade Impala packages or binaries to version 3.0.1 or later
  5. 5. If required, run any database upgrade scripts for the catalog (check Apache Impala documentation for version-specific migration steps)
  6. 6. Update configuration files if any new parameters are required for 3.0.1
  7. 7. Start Impala services in the correct order: State Store first, then Catalog Server, then Impala Daemons
  8. 8. Verify the upgrade by checking the Impala version (via impala-shell: SELECT VERSION();)
Caveat Review 3.0 release notes for any backward-incompatible changes; major version upgrades may introduce behavior changes in SQL syntax, APIs, or features

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Impala Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
19.0 hours of engineering $3,380
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-11792 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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