Summary
Apache Hive vulnerable to Observable Timing Discrepancy and Authentication Bypass by Spoofing
Use of Arrays.equals() in LlapSignerImpl in Apache Hive to compare message signatures allows attacker to forge a valid signature for an arbitrary message byte by byte. The attacker should be an authorized user of the product to perform this attack. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 4.0.0, which fixes this issue.
The problem occurs when an application doesn’t use a constant-time algorithm for validating a signature. The method Arrays.equals() returns false right away when it sees that one of the input’s bytes are different. It means that the comparison time depends on the contents of the arrays. This little thing may allow an attacker to forge a valid signature for an arbitrary message byte by byte. So it might allow malicious users to submit splits/work with selected signatures to LLAP without running as a privileged user, potentially leading to DDoS attack.
More details in the reference section.
Impact
CVE-2024-23953 has a CVSS score of 6.5 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (4.0.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2024-23953? CVE-2024-23953 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in org.apache.hive:hive-llap-common (maven), affecting versions < 4.0.0. It is fixed in 4.0.0.
- How severe is CVE-2024-23953? CVE-2024-23953 has a CVSS score of 6.5 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of org.apache.hive:hive-llap-common are affected by CVE-2024-23953? org.apache.hive:hive-llap-common (maven) versions < 4.0.0 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2024-23953? Yes. CVE-2024-23953 is fixed in 4.0.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2024-23953 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-23953 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2024-23953 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2024-23953? Upgrade
org.apache.hive:hive-llap-commonto 4.0.0 or later.