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CassandraApplication · Apache

CVE-2026-27315

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.0.20 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

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
Sensitive Information Leak in cqlsh in Apache Cassandra 4.0 allows access to sensitive information, like passwords, from previously executed cqlsh command via  ~/.cassandra/cqlsh_history local file access. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 4.0.20, which fixes this issue. -- Description: Cassandra's command-line tool, cqlsh, provides a command history feature that allows users to recall previously executed commands using the up/down arrow keys. These history records are saved in the ~/.cassandra/cqlsh_history file in the user's home directory. However, cqlsh does not redact sensitive information when saving command history. This means that if a user executes operations involving passwords (such as logging in or creating users) within cqlsh, these passwords are permanently stored in cleartext in the history file on the disk.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-532

Sensitive values — secrets, tokens, session identifiers, personal data — are written into log files, so anyone with access to the logs, which is often a broad group, obtains them. It turns a routine diagnostic into a credential leak. The fix is redacting sensitive data before it is logged and tightly restricting who can read the logs.

General guidance for the sensitive information in logs class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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, < 4.0.20

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

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 4.0.20 or later
Fixed in 4.0.20
Vendor patch issues.apache.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Apache Cassandra 4.0.20

  1. 1. Back up your current Cassandra configuration, data directory, and the existing cqlsh_history file (~/.cassandra/cqlsh_history) to preserve any sensitive data that may need to be securely deleted.
  2. 2. Stop the Cassandra service gracefully using 'nodetool drain' followed by the service stop command for your system (e.g., 'systemctl stop cassandra' or 'service cassandra stop').
  3. 3. Update your package repository to fetch the latest Cassandra packages.
  4. 4. Upgrade Cassandra to version 4.0.20 using your package manager (e.g., 'apt-get install cassandra=4.0.20' or 'yum install cassandra-4.0.20').
  5. 5. After upgrade, manually delete or securely wipe the existing ~/.cassandra/cqlsh_history file to remove any previously stored plaintext passwords.
  6. 6. Start the Cassandra service.
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade by running 'cqlsh -e "SELECT release_version FROM system.local"' and confirm it reports 4.0.20.
  8. 8. Verify the fix by executing a password-sensitive command in cqlsh (e.g., creating a user with a password), then checking that ~/.cassandra/cqlsh_history now redacts or omits sensitive values.
Caveat Cassandra 4.0.20 is a patch release within the 4.0.x stable series; minor upgrades within this series typically do not introduce breaking changes, but review release notes for any behavior modifications.

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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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-2026-27315 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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