Superuser escalation via ADD IDENTITY authorization bypass
Published Apr 7, 2026 · Updated Apr 7, 2026
Privilege escalation in Apache Cassandra 5.0 through 5.0.6 allows remote authenticated users to assume a superuser role via ADD IDENTITY. AddIdentityStatement.authorize checked CREATE against the caller's primary role rather than the role root and did not stop regular users from binding identities to superuser roles. Exploitation requires an mTLS deployment using MutualTlsAuthenticator, CREATE permission, and control of the certificate identity later used to authenticate.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Apache Cassandra 5.0 through 5.0.6 allows remote authenticated users to assume a superuser role via ADD IDENTITY. AddIdentityStatement.authorize checked CREATE against the caller's primary role rather than the role root and did not stop regular users from binding identities to superuser roles. Exploitation requires an mTLS deployment using MutualTlsAuthenticator, CREATE permission, and control of the certificate identity later used to authenticate.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-27314
- Published
- Apr 7, 2026
- Updated
- Apr 7, 2026
- Vendor
- The Apache Software Foundation
- Product
- Apache Cassandra
- Classifications
- CWE-267, T1098
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 7, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 7, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.0 <=5.0.6
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
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Your stack
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