CassandraApplication · Apache
CVE-2025-26467
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 · uneditedPrivilege 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 3.0.30, 3.11.17, 4.0.16, 4.1.7, 5.0.2, but this advisory is only for 4.0.16 because the fix to CVE-2025-23015 was incorrectly applied to 4.0.16, so that version is still affected. Users in the 4.0 series are recommended to upgrade to version 4.0.17 which fixes the issue. Users from 3.0, 3.11, 4.1 and 5.0 series should follow recommendation from CVE-2025-23015.
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 confidenceApache Cassandra contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where a user with MODIFY permission on ALL KEYSPACES can escalate privileges to superuser by performing unsafe actions on system resources. This issue affects only 4.0.16 because a previous fix for CVE-2025-23015 was incorrectly applied to this version, leaving it vulnerable.
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
>= 3.0.0, < 3.0.31>= 3.11.0, < 3.11.18>= 4.0.0, < 4.0.17>= 4.1.0, < 4.1.8>= 5.0.0, < 5.0.3CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Cassandra versionRun `nodetool version` or `cassandra -v` from the command line, or query `SELECT cluster_name, release_version FROM system.local;` via CQLAffected if The version falls within: >= 3.0.0 and < 3.0.31, >= 3.11.0 and < 3.11.18, >= 4.0.0 and < 4.0.17, >= 4.1.0 and < 4.1.8, or >= 5.0.0 and < 5.0.3
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Verify authorization is enabledInspect the cassandra.yaml configuration file and check the `authorizer` setting. A value of `CassandraAuthorizer` or a custom authorizer means authorization is activeAffected if The authorizer is set to anything other than `AllowAllAuthorizer` (disabled)
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Identify users with MODIFY permission on ALL KEYSPACESExecute CQL query: `SELECT * FROM system_auth.role_permissions;` and filter for rows where permission is 'MODIFY' and resource includes 'ALL KEYSPACES'. Alternatively, use `LIST ALL PERMISSIONS OF <username>;` for specific usersAffected if Any role or user exists that has MODIFY permission granted on ALL KEYSPACES (not just specific keyspaces)
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Check for unauthorized superuser creationQuery `SELECT * FROM system_auth.roles WHERE is_superuser = true;` to list all superuser roles, then compare against expected legitimate superuser accountsAffected if Unexpected or unauthorized superuser roles exist in the system that were not created by administrators
You are affected if running an affected Cassandra version with authorization enabled and any user possesses MODIFY permission on ALL KEYSPACES, as that user can escalate to superuser.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped3.0.313.11.184.0.17
Upgrade Apache Cassandra from version 4.0.16 to 4.0.17 and audit data access rules for any unauthorized privilege escalation that may have occurred.
Cassandra 4.0.17 for 4.0.x users; 3.0.31/3.11.18/4.1.8/5.0.x per CVE-2025-23015 for other series
- 1. Plan and schedule a maintenance window for the Cassandra cluster upgrade
- 2. Backup all keyspaces and data before upgrading
- 3. For Cassandra 4.0.x users: upgrade to version 4.0.17 which contains the fix for this vulnerability
- 4. For Cassandra 3.0.x users: upgrade to 3.0.31 (or later) per CVE-2025-23015 recommendations
- 5. For Cassandra 3.11.x users: upgrade to 3.11.18 (or later) per CVE-2025-23015 recommendations
- 6. For Cassandra 4.1.x users: upgrade to 4.1.8 (or later) per CVE-2025-23015 recommendations
- 7. For Cassandra 5.0.x users: follow CVE-2025-23015 recommendations for your series
- 8. After upgrade, verify that the new version is running correctly
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Cassandra
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-26467 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-26467 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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