dbcve.org
CassandraApplication · Apache

CVE-2026-32588

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.0.20 / 4.1.11 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
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
Authenticated DoS over CQL in Apache Cassandra 4.0, 4.1, 5.0 allows authenticated user to raise query latencies via repeated password changes. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 4.0.20, 4.1.11, 5.0.7, which fixes this 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

Authenticated denial of service vulnerability in Apache Cassandra allows any authenticated user to repeatedly change passwords, which causes significant query latency increases through the CQL protocol. This impacts all queries across the cluster due to internal resource contention or locking issues triggered by the password change operations.

MitigationUpgrade Apache Cassandra to version 4.0.20, 4.1.11, or 5.0.7 to resolve the vulnerability. In the interim, monitor for unusual password change patterns and implement rate limiting on authentication endpoints if feasible.

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, < 4.0.20>= 4.1.0, < 4.1.11>= 5.0.0, < 5.0.7

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Determine Apache Cassandra version
    Run `nodetool version` or `cqlsh --version` to retrieve the installed Cassandra version
    Affected if The version falls within < 4.0.20, < 4.1.11, or < 5.0.7 (for their respective branches)
  2. Verify authentication is enabled
    Check the cassandra.yaml configuration file for the `authenticator` setting. It should be set to `PasswordAuthenticator` or another authentication method (not `AllowAllAuthenticator`)
    Affected if Authentication is enabled (not set to AllowAllAuthenticator)
  3. Identify if CQL audit logging is configured
    Check if audit logging is enabled in cassandra.yaml under `audit_logging` section, or check for audit logs in the configured audit directory
    Affected if Audit logging is not configured - you have no way to detect password change abuse patterns
  4. Monitor for abnormal password change frequency
    Query authentication logs or audit logs for repeated ALTER USER or SET PASSWORD operations from the same user within short time periods
    Affected if Multiple password change operations are observed in a short timeframe, indicating potential exploitation

Your environment is affected if you run any Apache Cassandra version >= 4.0.0 and < 4.0.20, >= 4.1.0 and < 4.1.11, or >= 5.0.0 and < 5.0.7, with authentication enabled (not AllowAllAuthenticator).

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 4.0.20 / 4.1.11 / 5.0.7 or later
Fixed in 4.0.204.1.115.0.7
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Apache Cassandra to version 4.0.20, 4.1.11, or 5.0.7 to resolve the vulnerability. In the interim, monitor for unusual password change patterns and implement rate limiting on authentication endpoints if feasible.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Cassandra 4.0.20, 4.1.11, or 5.0.7 depending on your current major version branch

  1. Backup your Cassandra data and configuration files before proceeding
  2. Stop the Cassandra service on all nodes
  3. Download Apache Cassandra version 4.0.20, 4.1.11, or 5.0.7 from the official Apache Cassandra repository
  4. Replace the Cassandra installation with the new version
  5. Update any custom configuration if required for the new version
  6. Start the Cassandra service
  7. Verify the upgrade by checking the Cassandra version (cqlsh -e "SELECT release_version FROM system.local")
  8. Monitor system logs and query performance to confirm the fix is working
Caveat Standard Cassandra upgrade considerations apply: review breaking changes in release notes, test in staging first, and ensure client compatibility

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
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,280
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,448.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-32588 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2026-32588 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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