`CVE-2018-11770` Apache Spark

Affected software	Apache Spark
Severity	4.2 Medium CVSS 3.1 2 scores
Weakness	Improper authentication (CWE-287)
Published	13 Aug 2018
Updated	17 Jun 2026

Description

From version 1.3.0 onward, Apache Spark's standalone master exposes a REST API for job submission, in addition to the submission mechanism used by spark-submit. In standalone, the config property 'spark.authenticate.secret' establishes a shared secret for authenticating requests to submit jobs via spark-submit. However, the REST API does not use this or any other authentication mechanism, and this is not adequately documented. In this case, a user would be able to run a driver program without authenticating, but not launch executors, using the REST API. This REST API is also used by Mesos, when set up to run in cluster mode (i.e., when also running MesosClusterDispatcher), for job submission. Future versions of Spark will improve documentation on these points, and prohibit setting 'spark.authenticate.secret' when running the REST APIs, to make this clear. Future versions will also disable the REST API by default in the standalone master by changing the default value of 'spark.master.rest.enabled' to 'false'.

Exploitation status

Exploited

Real-world exploitation reported by VulnCheck KEV. CISA has not confirmed it.

CISA KEV not listed
VulnCheck KEV listed Exploitation reported in the wild. 1 citation · 1 exploit · earliest 2026-01-31.
CISA Vulnrichment no assessment published
Indexed PoC 2 indexed Published artifacts you can open, in GitHub PoC, Metasploit; first seen 2019-10-09.
EPSS 66% chance in 30 days A model's forecast, not a report of exploitation. Higher than 99% of all scored CVEs.

VulnCheck KEV

Exploitation evidence from VulnCheck Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (VulnCheck KEV), used under VulnCheck's community terms. View CVE-2018-11770 in VulnCheck (free account).

Evidence	Source	Detail	Date
Reported exploitation	labs.greynoise.io	/grimoire/2026-01-31-weekly-oast-report	2026-01-31
Exploit reference	VulnCheck XDB 9760ea56bd34	Exploit type: initial-access	2019-10-09

Evidence

Source

Detail

Date

Reported exploitation

labs.greynoise.io

/grimoire/2026-01-31-weekly-oast-report

2026-01-31

Exploit reference

VulnCheck XDB 9760ea56bd34

Exploit type: initial-access

2019-10-09

1 of these are GitHub repositories with fewer than 5 stars. They are listed for reference and don't count toward the exploitation status above.

Index	Artifact	Stars	First seen
GitHub PoC	Python RCE exploit for Apache Spark rewritten from Metasploit module	1	2019-10-09
Metasploit	Apache Spark Unauthenticated Command Execution (excellent rank)

Index

Artifact

Stars

First seen

GitHub PoC

Python RCE exploit for Apache Spark rewritten from Metasploit module

2019-10-09

Metasploit

Apache Spark Unauthenticated Command Execution (excellent rank)

Waratek protection

Mitigation candidate

A kind of vulnerability Waratek's rules address, with exploit code published or exploitation reported. No rule exists and none is planned yet. The decision below says what we found to build a rule from.

Protection none
Action unverified
Review automated Inferred
Record active

Decided by	The affected package being open source on Maven, so the fix can be read
Finding	This CVE affects an open-source Java library published on Maven Central (Maven packages: org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.11, org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.10), so it is squarely in ARMR's territory and the source needed to understand the defect is public. That makes it a candidate for an ARMR patch rule. No rule exists and none is scheduled: the diff between the affected and fixed versions has not been read, and a closer look may find no hook point ARMR can act on.

Decided by

The affected package being open source on Maven, so the fix can be read

Finding

This CVE affects an open-source Java library published on Maven Central (Maven packages: org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.11, org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.10), so it is squarely in ARMR's territory and the source needed to understand the defect is public. That makes it a candidate for an ARMR patch rule. No rule exists and none is scheduled: the diff between the affected and fixed versions has not been read, and a closer look may find no hook point ARMR can act on.

CVSS

4.2 MEDIUM v3.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N 2 metrics

We show the highest score from the newest CVSS version. Scores from different versions can't be compared, and the first score listed is sometimes a 0.0 placeholder.

Version Score Band Vector Assigner Type

CVSS 3.1 4.2 MEDIUM CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N NVD Primary published

CVSS 2.0 4.9 none AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:N NVD Primary

Version	Score	Band	Vector	Assigner	Type
CVSS 3.1	4.2	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N`	NVD	Primary	published
CVSS 2.0	4.9	none	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:N`	NVD	Primary

Affected software and releases

Maven packages

Affected and fixed versions, from OSV.dev

Package	Introduced	Fixed	Last affected
`org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.11`	1.0.0	none	2.3.2
`org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.10`	1.0.0	none	2.2.2

Products and versions

3 products, 3 version entries

Source	Vendor	Product	Scheme	Affected versions
nvd	apache	spark	generic	≥ 1.3.0 and ＜ 2.4.0
osv	org.apache.spark	spark-core_2.10	generic	≥ 1.0.0 and ≤ 2.2.2
osv	org.apache.spark	spark-core_2.11	generic	≥ 1.0.0 and ≤ 2.3.2

Source

Vendor

Product

Scheme

Affected versions

nvd

apache

spark

generic

≥ 1.3.0 and ＜ 2.4.0

osv

org.apache.spark

spark-core_2.10

generic

≥ 1.0.0 and ≤ 2.2.2

osv

org.apache.spark

spark-core_2.11

generic

≥ 1.0.0 and ≤ 2.3.2

References

URL	Tags
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/bd8e51314041451a2acd720e9223fc1c15a263ccacb396a75b1fc485%40%3Cdev.spark.apache.org%3E	WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/bd8e51314041451a2acd720e9223fc1c15a263ccacb396a75b1fc485@%3Cdev.spark.apache.org%3E	WEB
https://spark.apache.org/security.html#CVE-2018-11770	WEB
https://web.archive.org/web/20200227114942/http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105097	WEB
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105097	Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry

URL

Timeline

Published	2018-08-13	By the CVE Program.
VulnCheck KEV: earliest evidence	2026-01-31	Date of the oldest evidence of exploitation in VulnCheck KEV's record. VulnCheck does not publish the date it listed the CVE.
NVD record modified	2026-06-17	NVD's own last-modified date for this record.

Published

2018-08-13

By the CVE Program.

VulnCheck KEV: earliest evidence

2026-01-31

Date of the oldest evidence of exploitation in VulnCheck KEV's record. VulnCheck does not publish the date it listed the CVE.

NVD record modified

2026-06-17

NVD's own last-modified date for this record.

How VRT decided (17 of 24 rules ran)

17 of 24 rules ran. The rest didn't run because an earlier rule had already settled the CVE.

# Rule Outcome Status Detail

identity: Does this identifier describe a vulnerability at all? the first rule that matches decides

1 rejected no match CVE Program withdrawal of this identifier

scope: Is it a vulnerability Waratek protects? the first rule that matches decides

2 armr-patch-file no match An ARMR patch file on disk for this CVE

3 armr-secure-rule-file no match An ARMR security-rule template on disk for this CVE

4 manual-classification no match A researcher's recorded decision for this specific CVE

5 manual classification no match Manual classification of this CVE in the legacy dataset

6 non-java-upstream no match A root cause in non-Java code: an OS kernel, a C library, or a bundled runtime

7 oracle-component no match The defect being in a component of a tracked product the agent does not reach: JavaFX, the Java SE installer, the JInitiator browser plug-in, the native WebLogic proxy plug-in, or a native part of Oracle Application Server or Collaboration Suite (HTTP Server, Web Cache, Internet Directory, mail and calendar servers). Oracle gives these no CPE of their own and names them only in the description.

8 java-client-side no match Oracle's own risk-matrix note saying the CVE is reached only through untrusted code in the Java sandbox (applets, Web Start) or only through a client installation of Java, so a server running its own trusted code is not exposed

9 osv-maven matched In scope Maven packages: org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.11, org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.10

10 cna-maven-package not reached An affected Maven artifact named by the CNA itself

11 known-cpe-product not reached An NVD CPE naming a product ARMR tracks

12 cna-cpe-product not reached A CPE the CNA published naming a tracked product. Oracle publishes these on advisory day, months before NVD.

13 oracle-advisory-family not reached A tracked product family named in Oracle's own risk matrix. CPE cannot carry a suite name, only a module.

14 cna-named-product not reached A tracked product named in words by the CVE's own CNA, on a record with no CPE yet. Apache and Eclipse publish these on advisory day, before NVD adds CPE data.

15 non-deployable-product not reached The only affected product being a sealed appliance image, where Java runs but no -javaagent can be attached

16 unmatched-product not reached No tracked product matched above, and none present at all

disposition: What do we do about one that is? every rule runs

17 patch-hint no match A reference pointing at the upstream fix: a commit, a PR, a Red Hat bug

18 open-source-maven decided it matched Mitigation candidate Open-source Maven artifact indexed by OSV (Maven packages: org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.11, org.apache.spark:spark-core_2.10). The source is public, which makes an ARMR patch rule a candidate; nothing here establishes that one can be written.

19 poc-derivable skipped An indexed exploit clearing the evidence bar to reverse-engineer, where there is no source to read

20 no-exploit skipped Nothing to build a rule from yet: no published exploit, no CISA record of exploitation and no source-level change to read

21 secure-rule-match no match A vulnerability class already blocked by an ARMR security rule

22 exploited-no-fix-or-poc skipped Somebody exploiting this CVE (a CISA or VulnCheck KEV listing, or a CISA verdict of active exploitation), with no fix, source code or PoC to build a rule from

23 below-action-threshold withheld VulnCheck KEV-listed (1 written report(s), earliest 2026-01-31) — exploitation is reported, so it requires review regardless of severity

24 no-exploit-published no match A CISA or VulnCheck KEV listing, a CISA verdict of active exploitation, a reviewed exploit catalogue, or a GitHub PoC with 5 or more stars carries this CVE — exploit code is in use or published, so it stays a candidate

Products the scope rules checked

The products this CVE's record names, and whether VRT tracks each one. The scope rules decided on these.

Vendor Product Tracked CPE Source

apache spark not tracked cpe:2.3:a:apache:spark:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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