AmbariApplication · Apache
CVE-2018-8003
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 · uneditedApache Ambari, versions 1.4.0 to 2.6.1, is susceptible to a directory traversal attack allowing an unauthenticated user to craft an HTTP request which provides read-only access to any file on the filesystem of the host the Ambari Server runs on that is accessible by the user the Ambari Server is running as. Direct network access to the Ambari Server is required to issue this request, and those Ambari Servers that are protected behind a firewall, or in a restricted network zone are at less risk of being affected by this issue.
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 versions 1.4.0 through 2.6.1 contain a directory traversal vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to craft HTTP requests gaining read-only access to any file on the host filesystem accessible by the Ambari Server process user.
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
>= 1.4.0, <= 2.6.1CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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.
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Verify Ambari is installedRun `rpm -q ambari-server` or check for the presence of /var/lib/ambari-server or /usr/lib/ambari-server directoryAffected if Ambari Server package is not found or not installed
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Determine installed Ambari versionRun `ambari-server --version` or query the RPM package with `rpm -q ambari-server --queryformat '%{VERSION}'`Affected if The version returned is >= 1.4.0 and <= 2.6.1
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Check if Ambari Server process is runningRun `ps aux | grep ambari-server` or check with `systemctl status ambari-server`Affected if Ambari Server process is active and running
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Verify network exposure of Ambari web interfaceRun `netstat -tlnp | grep -E ':8080|:8443'` or `ss -tlnp | grep -E ':8080|:8443'` to see which interfaces Ambari is listening onAffected if Ambari is listening on 0.0.0.0 or a non-loopback address rather than only localhost (127.0.0.1)
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Confirm external access possibilityAttempt a local curl request to the Ambari API endpoint: `curl -k -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' http://localhost:8080/api/v1/version` and verify the service responds without authenticationAffected if The API returns a 200 response without requiring credentials, indicating the unauthenticated endpoint is accessible
You are affected if Ambari Server version is between 1.4.0 and 2.6.1 inclusive AND the Ambari web interface is accessible over the network rather than localhost only.
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 dataApply the vendor patch/upgrade to Ambari version 2.6.2 or later; restrict network access to the Ambari Server using firewalls or network segmentation as a compensating control.
Fix this in Ambari
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-8003 — 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-2018-8003 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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