Miggo Logo
Miggo Vulnerability Database
→
CVE-2016-4976

CVE-2016-4976: Apache Ambari reveals administrator passwords

5.5

CVSS Score
3.0

Basic Information

CVE ID
CVE-2016-4976
GHSA ID
GHSA-q3pw-6vf2-66hf
EPSS Score
0.24968%
CWE
CWE-200
Published
5/17/2022
Updated
11/7/2023
KEV Status
No
Technology
TechnologyJava

Technical Details

CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Package NameEcosystemVulnerable VersionsFirst Patched Version
org.apache.ambari:ambarimaven>= 2.0.0, < 2.4.02.4.0

Vulnerability Intelligence
Miggo AIMiggo AI

Miggo AIRoot Cause Analysis

The vulnerability stems from passing KDC admin passwords as cleartext arguments to kadmin commands. The CVE description explicitly states the fix in 2.4.0 involved switching to passing credentials via STDIN instead of command-line arguments. The most logical location for this vulnerability would be in the Kerberos management code that interfaces with kadmin. While exact code isn't provided, the pattern matches common Java process execution patterns using Runtime.exec() or ProcessBuilder with password arguments. The KerberosServerAction class is a known component handling Kerberos operations in Ambari, making this a high-confidence identification.

Vulnerable functions

Only Mi**o us*rs **n s** t*is s**tion

WAF Protection Rules

WAF Rule

*p**** *m**ri *.x ***or* *.*.* in*lu**s K** **ministr*tor p*sswor*s on t** k**min *omm*n* lin*, w*i** *llows lo**l us*rs to o*t*in s*nsitiv* in*orm*tion vi* * pro**ss listin*.

Reasoning

T** vuln*r**ility st*ms *rom p*ssin* K** **min p*sswor*s *s *l**rt*xt *r*um*nts to k**min *omm*n*s. T** *V* **s*ription *xpli*itly st*t*s t** *ix in *.*.* involv** swit**in* to p*ssin* *r***nti*ls vi* `ST*IN` inst*** o* *omm*n*-lin* *r*um*nts. T** mo