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CassandraApplication · Apache

CVE-2025-23015

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.0.31 / 3.11.18 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
Privilege Defined With Unsafe Actions vulnerability in Apache Cassandra. An user with MODIFY permission ON ALL KEYSPACES can escalate privileges to superuser within a targeted Cassandra cluster via unsafe actions to a system resource. Operators granting data MODIFY permission on all keyspaces on affected versions should review data access rules for potential breaches. This issue affects Apache Cassandra through 3.0.30, 3.11.17, 4.0.15, 4.1.7, 5.0.2. Users are recommended to upgrade to versions 3.0.31, 3.11.18, 4.0.16, 4.1.8, 5.0.3, which fixes the 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 confidence

A privilege escalation vulnerability in Apache Cassandra allows users with MODIFY permission on ALL KEYSPACES to elevate their privileges to superuser by performing unsafe actions on system resources. This bypasses the intended authorization boundaries.

MitigationUpgrade to Cassandra versions 3.0.31, 3.11.18, 4.0.16, 4.1.8, or 5.0.3 and audit existing data access rules for any unauthorized privilege escalation.

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
CassandraApplication
Affected:>= 3.0.0, < 3.0.31>= 3.1, < 3.11.18>= 4.0.0, < 4.0.16>= 4.1.0, < 4.1.8>= 5.0.0, < 5.0.3

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Identify Apache Cassandra version
    Run `cassandra -v` or check the version file in the Cassandra installation directory (such as build.xml, VERSION, or cassandra.yaml properties). Compare the version number against the affected ranges: 3.0.0-3.0.30, 3.1.0-3.11.17, 4.0.0-4.0.15, 4.1.0-4.1.7, 5.0.0-5.0.2.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the listed vulnerable version ranges.
  2. Confirm authentication and authorization are enabled
    Inspect the cassandra.yaml configuration file (commonly located in /etc/cassandra or the conf directory of the installation). Look for the `authenticator` and `authorizer` settings. Valid settings include 'PasswordAuthenticator' and 'CassandraAuthorizer'.
    Affected if Authentication or authorization is disabled (set to 'AllowAllAuthenticator' or 'AllowAllAuthorizer'), the vulnerability does not apply, but the environment lacks basic security controls.
  3. Identify users with MODIFY permission on ALL KEYSPACES
    Connect to Cassandra using cqlsh with an administrative account. Query the system_auth.permissions table: `SELECT * FROM system_auth.permissions WHERE permission='MODIFY' AND keyspace_name='<all keyspaces>';`. In Cassandra, the literal '<all keyspaces>' or a specific wildcard represents broad permissions across all keyspaces.
    Affected if Any non-superuser role exists with MODIFY permission granted on all keyspaces (represented as '<all keyspaces>' or equivalent in the permissions table).
  4. Review recent superuser role modifications
    Query the system_auth.roles table to identify any roles with `is_superuser` set to true that were created or modified recently, or check system audit logs if enabled: `SELECT * FROM system_auth.roles WHERE is_superuser=true;`. Compare creation times against expected administrative actions.
    Affected if Superuser roles exist that were not created by the known administrative account, or unexpected modifications to superuser status are found.
  5. Check for unauthorized role grants
    Query the system_auth.role_permissions table or use `LIST ALL PERMISSIONS OF <username>;` in cqlsh for any users who may have received elevated permissions. Look for unexpected grants of ALTER or AUTHORIZE permissions.
    Affected if Users have been granted permissions (particularly ALTER or AUTHORIZE) that were not intentionally assigned by the security administrator.

The environment is affected if the installed Cassandra version is vulnerable AND authentication is enabled AND any user possesses MODIFY permission on all keyspaces, creating the condition for privilege escalation.

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 3.0.31 / 3.11.18 / 4.0.16 or later
Fixed in 3.0.313.11.184.0.16
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Cassandra versions 3.0.31, 3.11.18, 4.0.16, 4.1.8, or 5.0.3 and audit existing data access rules for any unauthorized privilege escalation.

Recommended fix High confidence

3.0.31, 3.11.18, 4.0.16, 4.1.8, or 5.0.3 (choose the appropriate version based on your current major version branch)

  1. 1. Back up all keyspaces and data in the Cassandra cluster before upgrading
  2. 2. Review the Apache Cassandra upgrade documentation for your current version to ensure compatibility with the target version
  3. 3. For production environments, test the upgrade in a non-production cluster first to verify application compatibility
  4. 4. Download the appropriate fixed release: 3.0.31, 3.11.18, 4.0.16, 4.1.8, or 5.0.3 depending on your current major version branch
  5. 5. If upgrading across major versions (e.g., 3.x to 4.x), follow the incremental upgrade path documented in Cassandra's official upgrade guides
  6. 6. After upgrading, verify that the MODIFY permission on ALL KEYSPACES no longer allows privilege escalation to superuser
  7. 7. Review existing data access rules and user permissions to detect any potential exploitation attempts prior to the upgrade
Caveat Cassandra upgrades between major versions may require schema and configuration updates; always review release notes before upgrading

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

Fix this in Cassandra 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
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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-2025-23015 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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