dbcve.org
Parquet JavaApplication · Apache

CVE-2021-41561

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-12-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.11.2 / 1.12.2 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
Improper Input Validation vulnerability in Parquet-MR of Apache Parquet allows an attacker to DoS by malicious Parquet files. This issue affects Apache Parquet-MR version 1.9.0 and later versions.

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 Parquet-MR versions 1.9.0 and later contain an improper input validation vulnerability in the Parquet file parser. Attackers can craft malicious Parquet files that, when processed by vulnerable versions of the library, cause a denial of service condition. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of file structure or content during parsing.

MitigationUpdate Apache Parquet-MR to the latest patched version. In the interim, avoid processing Parquet files from untrusted sources and implement file upload validation before passing files to the Parquet library.

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
Parquet JavaApplication
Affected:< 1.11.2>= 1.12.0, < 1.12.2

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
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Locate the installed Parquet Java library version
    Check your project's dependency management system (Maven pom.xml, Gradle build.gradle, or sbt build.sbt) for the parquet-java or parquet-mr dependency and note the version number
    Affected if The version listed is 1.9.0 through 1.11.1, or 1.12.0 through 1.12.1
  2. Check runtime classpath for Parquet library
    Run 'jar -tf <your_parquet_jar>.jar | grep parquet' or use 'mvn dependency:tree' to identify the exact parquet version loaded at runtime
    Affected if The runtime version matches the affected ranges above
  3. Identify applications processing Parquet files
    Review your codebase or search for code that uses ParquetReader, ParquetFileReader, or similar Parquet input classes to process .parquet files
    Affected if Your application reads Parquet files and the library version is in the affected range
  4. Check Parquet library in distributed environments
    If using Spark, Hadoop, or similar, check the parquet-common and parquet-encoding jars in the classpath or lib directory with 'ls -la | grep parquet'
    Affected if The Parquet library versions loaded by the cluster fall within the vulnerable ranges

You are affected if your environment runs any version of Apache Parquet Java between 1.9.0 and 1.11.1 inclusive, or between 1.12.0 and 1.12.1 inclusive, AND processes Parquet files from any source.

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 1.11.2 / 1.12.2 or later
Fixed in 1.11.21.12.2
Interim mitigation

Update Apache Parquet-MR to the latest patched version. In the interim, avoid processing Parquet files from untrusted sources and implement file upload validation before passing files to the Parquet library.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Parquet Java 1.12.2 or later (or 1.11.2 if staying on the 1.11.x branch)

  1. Identify the current Parquet Java library version in use by checking project dependencies (e.g., pom.xml for Maven, build.gradle for Gradle)
  2. For Maven projects: Update the parquet-java dependency version to 1.12.2 or later (e.g., <version>1.12.2</version> in pom.xml)
  3. For Gradle projects: Update implementation 'org.apache.parquet:parquet-java:1.12.2' or later in build.gradle
  4. Rebuild the project to verify the dependency resolves correctly
  5. Re-test the application to ensure compatibility with the updated library
  6. For projects using Parquet-MR indirectly through other dependencies (e.g., Spark, Hive, Presto), verify those upstream dependencies include the fixed Parquet version or update them accordingly
Caveat Review release notes between current version and target version for any breaking changes in API or behavior; major version upgrades (e.g., 1.11.x to 1.12.x) may have behavioral changes

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

Fix this in Parquet Java Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,540
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,464.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-41561 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2021-41561 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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