What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-42537?

CVE-2026-42537 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: 0.4%.

Which versions of Apache Ranger are affected by CVE-2026-42537?

Apache Ranger versions prior to 2.9.0 contain a critical JDBC injection vulnerability that enables remote code execution on the Hadoop ecosystem's centralized authorization platform.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2026-42537?

Within 24 hours: Audit all Ranger instances to identify current versions and restrict administrative access where feasible. Within 7 days: Deploy vendor patch by upgrading all Ranger installations to version 2.9.0 or later, prioritizing production instances; review access logs for any suspicious database connection attempts. Within 30 days: Conduct security audit to verify no unauthorized policy changes were made during the vulnerable window and consider rotating credentials for service principals managed by Ranger.

Apache Ranger CVE-2026-42537

EUVD-2026-55251 CRITICAL

Code Injection (CWE-94)

2026-08-10 apache

GHSA-4rwg-mr3v-x763

RCE Apache Code Injection Apache Ranger Apache Software Foundation

9.8

CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: apache

Severity by source

Vendor (apache) PRIMARY

9.8 HIGH

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

vuln.today AI

8.8 HIGH

Network-reachable low-complexity RCE, but injecting a JDBC URL normally requires an authenticated admin/config action, so PR:L rather than PR:N; full C/I/A on host compromise.

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

4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (apache).

CVSS VectorVendor: apache

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Lifecycle Timeline

Analysis Updated

Aug 12, 2026 - 16:32 vuln.today

v2 (cvss_changed)

Re-analysis Queued

Aug 12, 2026 - 16:22 vuln.today

cvss_changed

CVSS changed

Aug 12, 2026 - 16:22 NVD

9.8 (CRITICAL)

Analysis Generated

Aug 10, 2026 - 11:02 vuln.today

CVE Published

Aug 10, 2026 - 10:24 cve.org

HIGH

DescriptionCVE.org

Remote Code Execution via JDBC URL Injection in Apache Ranger <= 2.8.0 Users are recommended to upgrade to version 2.9.0, which fixes this issue.

Articles & Coverage 1

News 8 New Apache Vulnerabilities - 8 High Severity, No Public Exploits Aug 11, 2026

AnalysisAI

Remote code execution in Apache Ranger versions up to and including 2.8.0 arises from JDBC URL injection (CWE-94), letting an attacker who can influence a database connection string coerce the server into loading attacker-controlled JDBC driver behavior and executing arbitrary code on the Ranger host. This flaw affects the centralized authorization framework used to govern access across Hadoop-ecosystem services, so compromise undermines the very control plane meant to enforce data security. There is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and EPSS is low (0.36%, 29th percentile), but the fix in 2.9.0 and the critical 9.8 CVSS warrant prompt patching.

Technical ContextAI

Apache Ranger is an open-source framework that centralizes authorization, auditing, and data governance for Hadoop-ecosystem components (HDFS, Hive, HBase, Kafka, etc.), managed through the Ranger Admin web console and REST API where operators define services and their backing datastore connections. The vulnerability class is JDBC URL injection: JDBC connection strings can carry driver-specific parameters that trigger dangerous behavior - for example MySQL Connector/J deserialization/local-infile options, or H2 'INIT'/RUNSCRIPT directives - turning a controllable URL into a code-execution or file-read primitive. Mapped to CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code / Code Injection), the root cause is that a URL/parameter value crossing a trust boundary is used to drive driver loading or query initialization without adequate validation or allow-listing. The single CPE provided (cpe:2.3:a:apache_software_foundation:apache_ranger:*) covers all Ranger releases up to the 2.8.0 boundary.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: upgrade to Apache Ranger 2.9.0, which the Apache advisory identifies as the fix for this JDBC URL injection issue (advisory: https://lists.apache.org/thread/ymwvz8cwv3wm8fq21pnd7fco0l1m4wrp). Until you can upgrade, restrict who can reach and modify service/datasource configurations: place the Ranger Admin console and REST API behind network controls so only trusted operators can reach the connection-configuration and connection-test endpoints, and tightly limit accounts with service-creation/edit privileges (trade-off: may slow legitimate service onboarding). Where feasible, constrain JDBC connectivity from the Ranger host at the network layer to only the intended database endpoints so an injected URL cannot reach attacker-controlled or unexpected backends (trade-off: must be updated whenever legitimate datasources change). Review Ranger audit logs for unexpected service/datasource creation or connection-test activity as a detection compensating control.