CVE-2020-9480: In Apache Spark 2.4.5 and earlier, a standalone resource manager's master may be configured to require authentication…
- Is it exploited?
Reported, not confirmed by CISA. VulnCheck KEV lists it as exploited in the wild. CISA has not added it to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as of .
VulnCheck KEV lists it since . It cites 2 public reports, the first from .
- How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?
- 29.4%
EPSS score, percentile 98.2 of all scored records. A probability estimated by FIRST, not a report of exploitation.
- How severe?
- Not scored
The CVE record carries no CVSS score.
- What should I do?
CISA has set no required action, because the vulnerability is not in KEV.
The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.
- Which versions are affected?
Affected
- Apache Spark 2.4.5 and earlier
Source: CISA KEV 2026.10.29, as of ; VulnCheck KEV, as of ; FIRST EPSS, as of ; CVE List, as of . About the data.
Description
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).
Source: CVE List, as of . About the data.
What to do
Advisories and patches
The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.
This summary is based on the CVE record as of . Check the vendor's advisory before you act: affected versions and fixes can change.
Affected products and versions
Versions by product, as listed in the CVE record (1 product)
| Status | Versions |
|---|---|
| Affected | Apache Spark 2.4.5 and earlier |
Source: CVE List, as of . About the data.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| CVE record published | |
| CVE record last updated |
References
6
- spark.apache.org
- [spark-user] 20200803 Re: CVE-2020-9480: Apache Spark RCE vulnerability in auth-enabled standalone master
- [spark-dev] 20200803 Re: CVE-2020-9480: Apache Spark RCE vulnerability in auth-enabled standalone master
- [submarine-commits] 20201209 [GitHub] [submarine] QiAnXinCodeSafe opened a new issue #475: There is a vulnerability in Apache Spark 2.3.4,upgrade recommended
- [doris-commits] 20210402 [GitHub] [incubator-doris] zh0122 opened a new pull request #5593: [FE][Bug] Update Spark version to fix a security issue
- oracle.com
Known exploited Apache vulnerabilities
- CVE-2016-3081: Apache Struts Command Injection Vulnerability
- CVE-2026-34486: Apache Tomcat Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data Vulnerability
- CVE-2026-34197: Apache ActiveMQ Improper Input Validation Vulnerability
- CVE-2024-38475: Apache HTTP Server Improper Escaping of Output Vulnerability
- CVE-2025-24813: Apache Tomcat Path Equivalence Vulnerability