CVE-2025-26467: Apache Cassandra · Privilege Defined With Unsafe Actions
Affects Apache CassandraSource CVE Database V5
Mentioned vulnerabilities
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.8 High · fixed in 4.0.17 : patch Apache Cassandra soon.
Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 43% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 4.0.17
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 25 Aug 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| Apache Software Foundation Apache Cassandra | Affected
| Fixed in– |
AI-suggested
1. Immediately upgrade Apache Cassandra 4.0.16 instances to version 4.0.17, which contains the correct patch for this vulnerability. 2. For other affected versions (3.0, 3.11, 4.1, 5.0 series), follow the mitigation steps outlined in CVE-2025-23015 advisories. 3. Audit and restrict MODIFY permissions on all keyspaces; avoid granting broad MODIFY access unless absolutely necessary. 4. Implement the principle of least privilege rigorously, ensuring users have only the permissions required for their roles. 5. Monitor Cassandra audit logs for unusual privilege escalations or administrative actions. 6. Use network segmentation and access controls to limit who can connect to Cassandra clusters. 7. Regularly review and update access control policies and perform penetration testing focused on privilege escalation vectors. 8. Consider deploying additional security layers such as database activity monitoring and anomaly detection to identify exploitation attempts early.
Description
Privilege Defined With Unsafe Actions vulnerability in Apache Cassandra. An user with MODIFY permission ON ALL KEYSPACES can escalate privileges to superuser within a targeted Cassandra cluster via unsafe actions to a system resource. Operators granting data MODIFY permission on all keyspaces on affected versions should review data access rules for potential breaches. This issue affects Apache Cassandra 3.0.30, 3.11.17, 4.0.16, 4.1.7, 5.0.2, but this advisory is only for 4.0.16 because the fix to CVE-2025-23015 was incorrectly applied to 4.0.16, so that version is still affected. Users in the 4.0 series are recommended to upgrade to version 4.0.17 which fixes the issue. Users from 3.0, 3.11, 4.1 and 5.0 series should follow recommendation from CVE-2025-23015.