CVE-2017-9799 in Storm
Summary
by MITRE
It was found that under some situations and configurations of Apache Storm 1.x before 1.0.4 and 1.1.x before 1.1.1, it is theoretically possible for the owner of a topology to trick the supervisor to launch a worker as a different, non-root, user. In the worst case this could lead to secure credentials of the other user being compromised.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/08/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-9799 affects Apache Storm versions 1.x prior to 1.0.4 and 1.1.x prior to 1.1.1, representing a significant security flaw in the distributed real-time computation framework's user privilege management system. This issue stems from improper user context handling within the supervisor component, which is responsible for managing worker processes on cluster nodes. The vulnerability manifests when topology owners can manipulate the execution environment to launch worker processes under different user accounts than intended, creating a potential attack vector that undermines the security model of the distributed system.
The technical flaw resides in the supervisor's privilege escalation mechanism where it fails to properly validate or enforce user context when launching worker processes. Specifically, the supervisor component does not adequately verify the identity of the user under which a worker should execute, allowing an attacker with topology ownership privileges to manipulate the execution environment. This weakness falls under CWE-276, which addresses improper privileges for system resources, and represents a classic privilege escalation vulnerability that enables unauthorized access to system resources. The flaw operates by exploiting the trust relationship between the supervisor and topology owners, where legitimate topology owners can abuse their privileges to execute processes under different user contexts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, potentially exposing sensitive credentials and system resources to unauthorized access. When a topology owner can trick the supervisor into launching a worker process as a different user, they may gain access to that user's credentials, files, and system privileges. This scenario creates a serious security risk in multi-tenant environments where different users or applications share the same Storm cluster, as it allows one user to potentially compromise another user's security context. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in production environments where Storm clusters manage sensitive data processing pipelines, as it could enable attackers to access confidential information or escalate their privileges to gain broader system access.
The security implications of CVE-2017-9799 align with ATT&CK technique T1068, which covers privilege escalation through exploitation of system design flaws, and T1552, which addresses credentials harvesting. Organizations running affected Apache Storm versions face potential data breaches, unauthorized access to system resources, and compromise of the entire distributed processing environment. The vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly minor design flaws in privilege management can create significant security risks in distributed systems. To address this issue, administrators should immediately upgrade to Apache Storm versions 1.0.4 or 1.1.1, which contain the necessary patches to properly enforce user context validation. Additionally, organizations should implement strict access controls, monitor topology ownership changes, and conduct regular security audits of their Storm cluster configurations to prevent exploitation of this vulnerability.