CVE-2021-44521
Published: 11 February 2022
Summary
CVE-2021-44521 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Apache Cassandra. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 0.3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-0915
Vulnerability details
When running Apache Cassandra with the following configuration: enable_user_defined_functions: true enable_scripted_user_defined_functions: true enable_user_defined_functions_threads: false it is possible for an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the host. The attacker would need to have enough permissions to create user defined functions…
more
in the cluster to be able to exploit this. Note that this configuration is documented as unsafe, and will continue to be considered unsafe after this CVE.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Overrides or renders irrelevant incorrect permission assignments on critical executable resources by using hardware-level immutability.
Procedures support proper permission assignment for critical resources through documented controls.
Attribute management for resources provides a mechanism to assign and maintain correct permissions based on security labels.
Prevents overly permissive assignments to critical resources by limiting to task needs.
Training policy covers correct permission assignment, reducing the ability to exploit incorrect permission assignments for critical resources.
Training on permission management reduces incorrect permission assignments for critical resources.
Audit logs and logging tools are critical resources whose protection requires correct permission assignments to block unauthorized actions.
Assessments review permission assignments on critical resources to confirm correctness, mitigating exploitation via incorrect permissions.