CVE-2025-53763 in Purview Data Governance
Summary
by MITRE • 08/21/2025
Improper access control in Azure Databricks allows an unauthorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/26/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-53763 represents a critical access control flaw within Microsoft Azure Databricks platform that enables unauthorized attackers to escalate their privileges over a network. This issue stems from inadequate authorization mechanisms that fail to properly validate user permissions and access levels when processing network requests. The flaw exists in the authentication and authorization subsystem of Azure Databricks, specifically affecting how the system validates privilege levels during network operations and session management processes.
This vulnerability operates at the intersection of several cybersecurity domains including identity and access management, network security, and cloud infrastructure protection. The technical implementation flaw allows attackers to exploit weak access control checks that should normally prevent users from performing administrative actions or accessing restricted resources. The issue manifests when legitimate network traffic attempts to access protected endpoints or perform privileged operations without proper verification of the requesting entity's authorization level. This creates a pathway for attackers to bypass normal security controls and assume elevated privileges within the Databricks environment.
The operational impact of CVE-2025-53763 extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it provides attackers with the capability to perform privilege escalation attacks that can lead to complete system compromise. Once an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they can potentially access sensitive data, modify configurations, deploy malicious code, or establish persistent access points within the Azure Databricks environment. The network-based nature of this flaw means that attackers can leverage remote exploitation techniques without requiring physical access to the infrastructure, making it particularly dangerous in cloud environments where network exposure is inherent. This vulnerability directly impacts the principle of least privilege and can enable attackers to move laterally within the system or access other interconnected services.
Organizations utilizing Azure Databricks should immediately implement mitigations including updating to patched versions of the platform, implementing additional network segmentation controls, and conducting comprehensive access control reviews. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues, and maps to ATT&CK techniques including privilege escalation and lateral movement. Security teams should also implement enhanced monitoring for unusual access patterns and privilege changes, while ensuring that all network traffic to Databricks endpoints is properly inspected for potential exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar access control weaknesses that could be exploited by threat actors.