CVE-2017-15536 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

Cloudera Data Science Workbench (CDSW) versions prior to 1.2.0 have been found to have a security issue that allows authenticated users to escalate their privileges, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Understanding CVE-2017-15536

This CVE identifies multiple vulnerabilities in CDSW that can be exploited by authenticated users to gain root access to nodes, access the database, and obtain sensitive information.

What is CVE-2017-15536?

An issue in Cloudera Data Science Workbench (CDSW) versions before 1.2.0 allows malicious authenticated users to escalate privileges, potentially compromising the security of the system.

The Impact of CVE-2017-15536

The vulnerabilities in CDSW can enable users to gain root access to nodes, access the database containing sensitive information, and obtain privileged data like session tokens and environment variables.

Technical Details of CVE-2017-15536

This section provides more in-depth technical insights into the vulnerability.

Vulnerability Description

CDSW 1.x before 1.2.0 contains several web application vulnerabilities that, when exploited together, allow users to escalate their privileges and access sensitive data.

Affected Systems and Versions

Product: Cloudera Data Science Workbench (CDSW)
Vendor: Cloudera
Versions Affected: Prior to 1.2.0

Exploitation Mechanism

By leveraging the identified vulnerabilities in the web application, authenticated users can elevate their privileges within CDSW, potentially leading to unauthorized access to critical information.

Mitigation and Prevention

Protecting systems from CVE-2017-15536 requires immediate actions and long-term security practices.

Immediate Steps to Take

Upgrade CDSW to version 1.2.0 or later to mitigate the vulnerabilities.
Monitor user activities and access to sensitive data within CDSW.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly update and patch CDSW to address any new security issues.
Implement strong authentication mechanisms and access controls to prevent unauthorized access.
Conduct security audits and assessments to identify and remediate potential vulnerabilities.

Patching and Updates

Ensure that all security patches and updates provided by Cloudera are promptly applied to CDSW to enhance system security.