Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-32007

RCE in Apache Spark ≤ 3.0.3

High EPSSRCECommand Injection
Published
02 May 2023
Modified
13 February 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.76 99.5th percentile
Risk Priority 90 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-32007 is a high-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Apache Spark. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 0.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2023-32007 is a command injection vulnerability in the Apache Spark UI that occurs when ACLs are enabled via the spark.acls.enable configuration option together with an authentication filter. The flaw resides in a code path inside HttpSecurityFilter that permits impersonation through an arbitrary username, which is then passed to a permission-check function that constructs and executes a Unix shell command. The issue affects only unsupported releases of Apache Spark; the original disclosure as CVE-2022-33891 had incorrectly stated that version 3.1.3 was unaffected.

An attacker who can reach the Spark UI with valid credentials can supply a crafted username to bypass ACL checks and obtain arbitrary command execution with the privileges of the user running Spark. The vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 8.8 and is categorized under CWE-77.

Public advisories state that the vulnerability affects only end-of-life products and direct users to upgrade to a currently supported release such as Apache Spark 3.4.0. The referenced Apache security page and OSS-Security mailing-list posts reiterate that no patches will be issued for unsupported branches.

The associated EPSS score stands at 0.9228 with no material post-disclosure climb from a low baseline.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

** UNSUPPORTED WHEN ASSIGNED ** The Apache Spark UI offers the possibility to enable ACLs via the configuration option spark.acls.enable. With an authentication filter, this checks whether a user has access permissions to view or modify the application. If ACLs…

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are enabled, a code path in HttpSecurityFilter can allow someone to perform impersonation by providing an arbitrary user name. A malicious user might then be able to reach a permission check function that will ultimately build a Unix shell command based on their input, and execute it. This will result in arbitrary shell command execution as the user Spark is currently running as. This issue was disclosed earlier as CVE-2022-33891, but incorrectly claimed version 3.1.3 (which has since gone EOL) would not be affected. NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer. Users are recommended to upgrade to a supported version of Apache Spark, such as version 3.4.0.

CWE(s)
CWE-77

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.008 Network Device CLI Execution
Adversaries may abuse scripting or built-in command line interpreters (CLI) on network devices to execute malicious command and payloads.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2022-33891Same product: Apache Spark
CVE-2025-54920Same product: Apache Spark
CVE-2023-22946Same product: Apache Spark
CVE-2025-55039Same product: Apache Spark
CVE-2024-45505Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-49898Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-52291Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2024-29737Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-28935Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2026-30898Same vendor: Apache

Affected Assets

apache
spark
≤ 3.0.3 · 3.1.1 — 3.1.3 · 3.2.0 — 3.2.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V1.2.9

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and neutralization that prevent command injection.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect anomalous command execution resulting from injection.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying recorded vulnerabilities enables remediation of command-injection flaws before exploitation.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent command injection.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the attack surface but do not prescribe the specific neutralization techniques needed.

A.8.31 Separation of development, test and production environments none match
none

Environment separation limits the blast radius of an exploited command injection but does not prevent the flaw itself.

References