What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-9480?

CVE-2020-9480 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 (Critical). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. EPSS exploitation probability: 29.2%.

Is there a public PoC exploit available for CVE-2020-9480?

Yes, a public proof-of-concept exploit is available for CVE-2020-9480. Prioritise patching immediately. EPSS: 29.2%.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2020-9480?

Yes, a patch is available for CVE-2020-9480. Update the affected software to the latest version immediately.

Spark CVE-2020-9480

CRITICAL

Missing Authentication for Critical Function (CWE-306)

2020-06-23 security@apache.org

Authentication Bypass Apache Oracle Business Intelligence Spark

9.8

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness	CWE CWE-306 OWASP Top 10:2025 A07:2025 - Authentication Failures ASVS 5.0 V6 - Authentication Authentication required for critical functions MITRE ATT&CK 1 technique across 1 tactic: Initial Access The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. Sign in to read
Impact	CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required.
Exploit ScenarioDerived	A remote attacker could access critical functionality without authentication by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity + public POC available.

Patch available 29.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.

Alert me

AnalysisAI

In Apache Spark 2.4.5 and earlier, a standalone resource manager's master may be configured to require authentication (spark.authenticate) via a shared secret. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Missing Authentication for Critical Function vulnerability could allow attackers to access critical functionality without authentication.

RemediationAI

A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Require authentication for all sensitive operations, implement defense in depth.

Affected Packages

maven org.apache.spark:spark-parent_2.11 fix: 2.4.6

maven pyspark fix: 2.4.6

pypi org-apache-spark:spark-parent-2-11 fix: 2.4.6

pypi pyspark fix: 2.4.6

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 3 packages in maven, pypi

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Missing Authentication for Critical Function (CWE-306), which allows attackers to access critical functionality without authentication. In Apache Spark 2.4.5 and earlier, a standalone resource manager's master may be configured to require authentication (spark.authenticate) via a shared secret. When enabled, however, a specially-crafted RPC to the master can succeed in starting an application's resources on the Spark cluster, even without the shared key. This can be leveraged to execute shell commands on the host machine. This does not affect Spark clusters using other resource managers (YARN, Mesos, etc). Affected products include: Apache Spark, Oracle Business Intelligence.

Know when Spark gets its next vulnerability

Watch products and get an email when something new is published
Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

Continue with Google Continue with GitHub

No credit card · 7-day full trial

Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 9.8 CRITICAL

AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

DescriptionNVD

In Apache Spark 2.4.5 and earlier, a standalone resource manager's master may be configured to require authentication (spark.authenticate) via a shared secret. When enabled, however, a specially-crafted RPC to the master can succeed in starting an application's resources on the Spark cluster, even without the shared key. This can be leveraged to execute shell commands on the host machine. This does not affect Spark clusters using other resource managers (YARN, Mesos, etc).

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score

29.2%

Top 2% exploitable

Exploit

POC

Public exploit code exists

Data Quality

2 sources

Confidence: Low

NVD

CVE.org

EPSS POC (1)

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue

Severity CRITICAL

CISA KEV No

Public POC Yes

EPSS 29.2%

Patch available Yes

Active threat Yes

Deciding rule

CRITICAL severity + public POC available

What every action level means

Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.

Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived

Scheduled

Exploitation· derived

Poc

System Exposure· derived

Open

Automatable· derived

Yes

Human Impact· derived

Medium

Priority Score

Low Medium High Critical

KEV: 0

EPSS: +29

CVSS: +49

PoC: +20

Weaponized: 0

Threat intel: 0

Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Authentication Bypass CRITICAL

Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:apache:spark:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

cpe:2.3:a:oracle:business_intelligence:5.5.0.0.0:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*

More in Spark

View all

CVE-2022-33891 HIGH Act Now POC

8.8 Jul 18

The Apache Spark UI offers the possibility to enable ACLs via the configuration option spark.acls.enable. Rated high sev

CVE-2020-12772 HIGH This Week POC

8.8 May 12

An issue was discovered in Ignite Realtime Spark 2.8.3 (and the ROAR plugin for it) on Windows. Rated high severity (CVS

CVE-2016-9177 HIGH This Week POC

7.5 Nov 04

Directory traversal vulnerability in Spark 2.5 allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a .. Rated high sever

CVE-2018-11770 MEDIUM This Month POC

4.2 Aug 13

From version 1.3.0 onward, Apache Spark's standalone master exposes a REST API for job submission, in addition to the su

CVE-2024-23945 MEDIUM This Month POC

5.9 Dec 23

Signing cookies is an application security feature that adds a digital signature to cookie data to verify its authentici

CVE-2023-22946 CRITICAL Act Now

9.9 Apr 17

In Apache Spark versions prior to 3.4.0, applications using spark-submit can specify a 'proxy-user' to run as, limiting

CVE-2018-17190 CRITICAL Act Now

9.8 Nov 19

In all versions of Apache Spark, its standalone resource manager accepts code to execute on a 'master' host, that then r

CVE-2018-8024 MEDIUM This Month POC

5.4 Jul 12

In Apache Spark 2.1.0 to 2.1.2, 2.2.0 to 2.2.1, and 2.3.0, it's possible for a malicious user to construct a URL pointin

CVE-2023-32007 HIGH This Week

8.8 May 02

** UNSUPPORTED WHEN ASSIGNED ** The Apache Spark UI offers the possibility to enable ACLs via the configuration option s

CVE-2017-12612 HIGH This Week

7.8 Sep 13

In Apache Spark 1.6.0 until 2.1.1, the launcher API performs unsafe deserialization of data received by its socket. Rate

CVE-2016-1322 HIGH This Week

7.5 Feb 12

The REST interface in Cisco Spark 2015-07-04 allows remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions and create a

CVE-2019-10172 HIGH This Week

7.5 Nov 18

A flaw was found in org.codehaus.jackson:jackson-mapper-asl:1.9.x libraries. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulner

Same weakness CWE-306 – Missing Authentication for Critical Function

View all

CVE-2024-0012 CRITICAL POC

9.3

CVE-2017-10271 HIGH POC

7.5

CVE-2025-3248 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2024-11680 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2024-51567 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2025-0108 HIGH POC

8.8

CVE-2025-61757 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2025-32433 CRITICAL POC

10.0

Same technique Authentication Bypass

View all

CVE-2015-3306 CRITICAL POC

10.0

CVE-2023-22515 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2012-4681 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2013-2465 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2011-3544 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2022-40684 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2025-61882 CRITICAL POC

9.8

References

Advisories & patches

PATCH https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuApr2021.html ADVISORY https://spark.apache.org/security.html#CVE-2020-9480 REF https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r03ad9fe7c07d6039fba9f2152d345274473cb0af3d8a4794a6645f4b%40%3Cuser.spark.apache.org%3E REF https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra0e62a18ad080c4ce6df5e0202a27eaada75222761efc3f7238b5a3b%40%3Ccommits.doris.apache.org%3E REF https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb3956440747e41940d552d377d50b144b60085e7ff727adb0e575d8d%40%3Ccommits.submarine.apache.org%3E REF https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ree9e87aae81852330290a478692e36ea6db47a52a694545c7d66e3e2%40%3Cdev.spark.apache.org%3E

Search Externally

GitHub PoC

Exploit-DB PacketStorm Snyk Rapid7 Nuclei Templates Trickest PoC

Back