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HiveApplication · Apache

CVE-2021-34538

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-07-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.1.3 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Apache Hive before 3.1.3 "CREATE" and "DROP" function operations does not check for necessary authorization of involved entities in the query. It was found that an unauthorized user can manipulate an existing UDF without having the privileges to do so. This allowed unauthorized or underprivileged users to drop and recreate UDFs pointing them to new jars that could be potentially malicious.

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

Apache Hive before version 3.1.3 has an authorization bypass vulnerability where CREATE and DROP function operations do not properly validate user permissions. This allows unauthorized users to drop existing UDFs and recreate them pointing to malicious JAR files, potentially executing arbitrary code within the Hive environment.

MitigationUpgrade Apache Hive to version 3.1.3 or later, and ensure proper authorization enforcement (via Apache Ranger or Sentry) is configured for UDF 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
HiveApplication
Affected:< 3.1.3

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 checks

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

  1. Check installed Hive version
    Run 'hive --version' or check the Hive jar metadata in /usr/lib/hive/lib/ or your Hive installation directory. Look for the version number in the hive-common-*.jar filename.
    Affected if The version is lower than 3.1.3 (for example, 3.1.2, 3.1.1, 3.0.0, 2.3.x, etc.)
  2. Verify authorization provider is configured
    Check hive-site.xml for 'hive.security.authorization.enabled' setting and confirm it is set to 'true'. Also check for 'hive.security.authorization.manager' to see if Apache Ranger or Sentry is configured.
    Affected if Authorization is disabled (set to false) or no authorization manager (Ranger/Sentry) is defined for UDF operations
  3. Identify existing UDFs in the environment
    Run 'SHOW FUNCTIONS' in Hive beeline or Hive CLI to list all user-defined functions registered in the database.
    Affected if Any UDFs exist - unauthorized users could potentially drop and recreate these with malicious JAR paths
  4. Check UDF JAR storage permissions
    Examine the directory where UDF JAR files are stored (typically /user/hive/warehousestorer/ or custom paths defined in hive-site.xml under 'hive.aux.jars.path'). Verify file permissions restrict write access to authorized users only.
    Affected if The JAR directory has weak permissions allowing unauthorized users to write or replace files

You are affected if your Hive version is below 3.1.3 AND authorization is not properly configured for UDF operations, leaving the environment vulnerable to unauthorized function manipulation.

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 3.1.3 or later
Fixed in 3.1.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Apache Hive to version 3.1.3 or later, and ensure proper authorization enforcement (via Apache Ranger or Sentry) is configured for UDF operations.

Recommended fix High confidence

Hive 3.1.3

  1. Upgrade Apache Hive to version 3.1.3 or later to resolve the missing authorization check on CREATE and DROP function operations

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

Fix this in Hive Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,980
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,968.

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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-2021-34538 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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