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Apache ZooKeeperGHSA-7286-pgfv-vxvh

Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in Apache ZooKeeper

Critical9.1CVE-2023-44981 · Published Oct 11, 2023 · updated Sep 10, 2026

GitHub advisory

Affected versions

PackageAffectedFixed in
org.apache.zookeeper:zookeeper
Maven
< 3.7.23.7.2
>= 3.8.0, < 3.8.33.8.3
>= 3.9.0, < 3.9.13.9.1
Details and references

Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in Apache ZooKeeper. If SASL Quorum Peer authentication is enabled in ZooKeeper (quorum.auth.enableSasl=true), the authorization is done by verifying that the instance part in SASL authentication ID is listed in zoo.cfg server list. The instance part in SASL auth ID is optional and if it's missing, like 'eve@EXAMPLE.COM', the authorization check will be skipped. As a result an arbitrary endpoint could join the cluster and begin propagating counterfeit changes to the leader, essentially giving it complete read-write access to the data tree. Quorum Peer authentication is not enabled by default. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.9.1, 3.8.3, 3.7.2, which fixes the issue. Alternately ensure the ensemble election/quorum communication is protected by a firewall as this will mitigate the issue. See the documentation for more details on correct cluster administration.

CVSS 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Severity from
GitHub (reviewed advisory)
Weakness
CWE-639
Also known as
BIT-zookeeper-2023-44981, CVE-2023-44981

More Apache ZooKeeper advisories

All Apache ZooKeeper
DateAdvisory
Mar 152024Apache ZooKeeper vulnerable to information disclosure in persistent watchers handling
CVE-2024-23944Medium5.3fixed in 3.8.4, 3.9.2
Nov 72024Apache ZooKeeper: Authentication bypass with IP-based authentication in Admin Server
CVE-2024-51504Highfixed in 3.9.3
May 132022Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in Apache ZooKeeper
CVE-2017-5637High7.5fixed in 3.4.10, 3.5.3
May 132022Missing Authorization in Apache ZooKeeper
CVE-2018-8012High7.5fixed in 3.4.10, 3.5.4-beta
Sep 242025Apache ZooKeeper: Insufficient Permission Check in AdminServer Snapshot/Restore Commands
CVE-2025-58457Medium4.3fixed in 3.9.4
Mar 7Apache ZooKeeper: Reverse-DNS fallback enables hostname verification bypass in ZooKeeper ZKTrustManager
CVE-2026-24281High7.4fixed in 3.8.6, 3.9.5

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