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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 29 Jan 2024.
SupersetApplication · Apache

CVE-2023-27524

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.0.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit 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
Session Validation attacks in Apache Superset versions up to and including 2.0.1. Installations that have not altered the default configured SECRET_KEY according to installation instructions allow for an attacker to authenticate and access unauthorized resources. This does not affect Superset administrators who have changed the default value for SECRET_KEY config. All superset installations should always set a unique secure random SECRET_KEY. Your SECRET_KEY is used to securely sign all session cookies and encrypting sensitive information on the database. Add a strong SECRET_KEY to your `superset_config.py` file like: SECRET_KEY = <YOUR_OWN_RANDOM_GENERATED_SECRET_KEY> Alternatively you can set it with `SUPERSET_SECRET_KEY` environment variable.

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 Superset versions up to 2.0.1 use a default hardcoded SECRET_KEY that is used to sign session cookies and encrypt sensitive database information. Attackers who know this default key can forge valid session cookies, bypass authentication, and gain unauthorized administrative access to the Superset instance.

MitigationReplace the default SECRET_KEY in superset_config.py (or via SUPERSET_SECRET_KEY environment variable) with a strong, cryptographically random value unique to the installation. All existing sessions should be invalidated after the change.

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
SupersetApplication
Affected:<= 2.0.1

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:3.1/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. Check Apache Superset version
    Run `pip show apache-superset` or `superset version` to retrieve the installed version number
    Affected if version is 2.0.1 or lower
  2. Locate the configuration file
    Find superset_config.py in the path specified during installation, or check for SUPERSET_SECRET_KEY environment variable
    Affected if configuration file exists but SECRET_KEY is not explicitly set or uses the default value
  3. Inspect the SECRET_KEY value
    Open superset_config.py and look for the SECRET_KEY setting, or run `echo $SUPERSET_SECRET_KEY` to check the environment variable
    Affected if SECRET_KEY is set to the known default value or is not defined (falling back to default)
  4. Verify custom key generation
    Confirm that SECRET_KEY was generated using a cryptographically secure random generator rather than using a preset default
    Affected if SECRET_KEY matches the publicly documented default or was not changed from installation defaults

You are affected if running Apache Superset version 2.0.1 or lower and the SECRET_KEY has not been changed from the known default value.

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 a release after 2.0.1
Interim mitigation

Replace the default SECRET_KEY in superset_config.py (or via SUPERSET_SECRET_KEY environment variable) with a strong, cryptographically random value unique to the installation. All existing sessions should be invalidated after the change.

Recommended fix High confidence

2.1.0 or later (any version after 2.0.1)

  1. 1. Generate a strong, random SECRET_KEY value (minimum 32 characters, use a cryptographically secure random generator)
  2. 2. Add or update the SECRET_KEY configuration in your superset_config.py file: SECRET_KEY = '<YOUR_NEW_RANDOM_SECRET_KEY>'
  3. 3. Alternatively, set the SUPERSET_SECRET_KEY environment variable with your new secret value
  4. 4. Restart all Superset services to apply the new configuration
  5. 5. Verify that existing sessions are invalidated and users need to re-authenticate with the new key
Caveat Changing SECRET_KEY will invalidate all existing user sessions - users will need to log in again; ensure you have a backup of your configuration before making changes

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

Fix this in Superset Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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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-2023-27524 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