dbcve.org
Alpakka KafkaApplication · Lightbend

CVE-2023-29471

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.0.2 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Lightbend Alpakka Kafka before 5.0.0 logs its configuration as debug information, and thus log files may contain credentials (if plain cleartext login is configured). This occurs in akka.kafka.internal.KafkaConsumerActor.

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

Lightbend Alpakka Kafka versions before 5.0.0 log full configuration details at debug level in the KafkaConsumerActor class. When plain cleartext login credentials are configured for Kafka connections, these sensitive authentication details are written to application log files, potentially exposing credentials to unauthorized parties with log access.

MitigationUpgrade Alpakka Kafka to version 5.0.0 or later. As a workaround, ensure debug logging is disabled in production and audit existing logs for exposed credentials.

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
Alpakka KafkaApplication
Affected:< 4.0.2

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

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

  1. Identify installed Alpakka Kafka version
    Inspect your project's dependency management file (build.sbt, pom.xml, or gradle build file) for the alpakka-kafka dependency version, or run 'sbt dependencies' / 'mvn dependency:tree' to list the resolved version
    Affected if the version is below 4.0.2 (or below 5.0.0 per the CVE scope)
  2. Verify if debug logging is enabled
    Check your logging configuration (logback.xml, log4j.properties, or application.conf) for debug-level settings on the KafkaConsumerActor class or related Kafka components
    Affected if debug level logging is active for Alpakka Kafka classes
  3. Inspect Kafka client configuration for credentials
    Review your Kafka consumer and producer configuration settings in your application configuration files or code for plain text username/password properties (such as 'sasl.mechanism=PLAIN' with 'username' and 'password' fields)
    Affected if plain cleartext login credentials are configured for Kafka authentication (not using certificate-based SSL or secure keystore mechanisms)
  4. Examine application logs for credential exposure
    Search application log files for occurrences of the configured username or password strings appearing in debug-level log entries, particularly those containing Kafka consumer actor messages
    Affected if sensitive authentication credentials appear in debug log output

A user is affected if they run Alpakka Kafka version below 4.0.2 with debug logging enabled AND use plain text credentials for Kafka authentication, resulting in credentials appearing in their application logs.

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 4.0.2 or later
Fixed in 4.0.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Alpakka Kafka to version 5.0.0 or later. As a workaround, ensure debug logging is disabled in production and audit existing logs for exposed credentials.

Recommended fix High confidence

Alpakka Kafka 4.0.2 or later

  1. Update the Alpakka Kafka dependency in your project to version 4.0.2 or later
  2. For Maven projects, update the pom.xml dependency: change version to 4.0.2 or higher
  3. For SBT projects, update the build.sbt dependency: change version to 4.0.2 or higher
  4. Rebuild and redeploy the application to ensure the updated library is used
  5. Verify that credentials are no longer logged in debug output after the upgrade
Caveat Review release notes for any breaking changes between your current version and 4.0.2

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

Fix this in Alpakka Kafka Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

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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-2023-29471 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