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CassandraApplication · Apache

CVE-2025-24860

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.0.16 / 4.1.8 or later.
See remediation →
60/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Incorrect Authorization vulnerability in Apache Cassandra allowing users to access a datacenter or IP/CIDR groups they should not be able to when using CassandraNetworkAuthorizer or CassandraCIDRAuthorizer. Users with restricted data center access can update their own permissions via data control language (DCL) statements on affected versions. This issue affects Apache Cassandra: from 4.0.0 through 4.0.15 and from 4.1.0 through 4.1.7 for CassandraNetworkAuthorizer, and from 5.0.0 through 5.0.2 for both CassandraNetworkAuthorizer and CassandraCIDRAuthorizer. Operators using CassandraNetworkAuthorizer or CassandraCIDRAuthorizer on affected versions should review data access rules for potential breaches. Users are recommended to upgrade to versions 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

Incorrect authorization vulnerability in Apache Cassandra's CassandraNetworkAuthorizer and CassandraCIDRAuthorizer allows users with restricted datacenter access to modify their own permissions via DCL statements, bypassing intended access restrictions.

MitigationUpgrade to Cassandra 4.0.16, 4.1.8, 5.0.3 or later. Review existing data access rules for potential unauthorized permission changes.

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:>= 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
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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 Cassandra version
    Run 'nodetool version' or execute 'SELECT release_version FROM system.local' via cqlsh
    Affected if Version is 4.0.0-4.0.15, 4.1.0-4.1.7, or 5.0.0-5.0.2 (outside the fixed versions 4.0.16, 4.1.8, 5.0.3)
  2. Determine which authorizer is configured
    Inspect cassandra.yaml for the 'authorizer' setting; common values are CassandraNetworkAuthorizer, CassandraCIDRAuthorizer, CassandraAuthorizer
    Affected if Authorizer is set to CassandraNetworkAuthorizer or CassandraCIDRAuthorizer
  3. Verify network or CIDR restrictions exist
    Check for network_authorizer or cidrauthorizer configuration files, or query system_auth.permissions for permissions with 'datacenters' or 'ip_addresses' restrictions
    Affected if Users exist with datacenter or IP restrictions configured in the authorizer
  4. Audit recent permission changes
    Query system_auth.permissions history if audit logging is enabled, or review application logs for DCL statements (GRANT, REVOKE, CREATE ROLE, ALTER ROLE) executed by users with restricted datacenter access
    Affected if Users with restricted datacenters have modified their own permissions unexpectedly

You are affected if running a vulnerable Cassandra version AND using CassandraNetworkAuthorizer or CassandraCIDRAuthorizer with users that have datacenter or IP restrictions configured.

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 4.0.16 / 4.1.8 / 5.0.3 or later
Fixed in 4.0.164.1.85.0.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Cassandra 4.0.16, 4.1.8, 5.0.3 or later. Review existing data access rules for potential unauthorized permission changes.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Cassandra 4.0.16, 4.1.8, or 5.0.3 (depending on current major version)

  1. Identify if CassandraNetworkAuthorizer or CassandraCIDRAuthorizer is in use in the cluster
  2. Review data access rules and audit logs for any unauthorized permission changes that may have occurred
  3. Determine the current Cassandra version (4.0.x, 4.1.x, or 5.0.x)
  4. Plan upgrade path: if on 4.0.x upgrade to 4.0.16, if on 4.1.x upgrade to 4.1.8, if on 5.0.x upgrade to 5.0.3
  5. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment first
  6. Perform the upgrade during a scheduled maintenance window
  7. After upgrade, verify that restricted users can no longer modify their own permissions via DCL statements
  8. Re-audit data access rules to ensure proper authorization is enforced

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

Fix this in Cassandra Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
52.0 hours of engineering $9,160
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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-2025-24860 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