Vulnerability in Apache Kafka
CVE-2021-38153
Some components in Apache Kafka use `Arrays.equals` to validate a password or key, which is vulnerable to timing attacks that make brute force attacks for such credentials more likely to be successful. Users should upgrade to 2.8.1 or higher, or 3.0.0 or higher where this vulnerability has been fixed. The affected versions include Apache Kafka 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.1.0, 2.1.1, 2.2.0, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3.0, 2.3.1, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, 2.5.0, 2.5.1, 2.6.0, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.7.0, 2.7.1, and 2.8.0.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 5.9 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.062 (93.5th percentile), scored .
Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 94th percentile — 93.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.063 · newest: 0.062 · change: -0.001
Affected products
- Apache Kafka — versions 2.8.0
- Apache Software Foundation Kafka — versions Apache Kafka 2.0.x, Apache Kafka 2.1.x, Apache Kafka 2.2.x
- Oracle Communications Brm - Elastic Charging Engine — versions 12.0.0.5.0
- Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy — versions 1.15.0
- Oracle Financial Services Analytical Applications Infrastructure
- Oracle Financial Services Behavior Detection Platform — versions 8.1.1.0, 8.1.1.1, 8.1.2.0
- Oracle Financial Services Enterprise Case Management — versions 8.0.7.1, 8.0.7.2, 8.0.8.0
- Oracle Primavera Unifier — versions 18.8, 19.12, 20.12
- Quarkus
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- kafka.apache.org/cve-list (Vendor Advisory)
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/r35322aec467ddae34002690edaa4d9f16e7df9b5bf7164869… (mailing-list)
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/r45cc0602d5f2cbb72e48896dfadf5e5b87ed85630449598b4… (mailing-list)
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/r45cc0602d5f2cbb72e48896dfadf5e5b87ed85630449598b4… (mailing-list)
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/rd9ef217b09fdefaf32a4e1835b59b96629542db57e1f63edb… (mailing-list)
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/rd9ef217b09fdefaf32a4e1835b59b96629542db57e1f63edb… (mailing-list)
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/r26390c8b09ecfa356582d665b0c01f4cdcf16ac047c85f9f9… (mailing-list)
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/r26390c8b09ecfa356582d665b0c01f4cdcf16ac047c85f9f9… (mailing-list)
- www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html (Third Party Advisory)
- www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html (Patch, Third Party Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2021-38153?
- CVE-2021-38153 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apache Kafka, classified under Observable Discrepancy. CVSS score: 5.9/10. Published 2021-09-22.
- How severe is CVE-2021-38153?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.9 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2021-38153 known to be exploited?
- 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.