VulnerabilityPublished 16 Jan 2026

CVE-2026-23529: Aiven-Open bigquery-connector-for-apache-kafka · External Control of File Name or Path

Affects Aiven-Open bigquery-connector-for-apache-kafkaSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.7 High : upgrade to 2.11.0 soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.7High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 34% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.11.0

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 16 Jan 2026
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 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade bigquery-connector-for-apache-kafka and io.aiven/bigquery-connector-for-apache-kafka to 2.11.0.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Aiven-Openbigquery-connector-for-apache-kafka	Affected <2.11.0	Fixed in 2.11.0
Mavenio.aiven/bigquery-connector-for-apache-kafka`pkg:maven/io.aiven/bigquery-connector-for-apache-kafka`Other threats	Affected <2.11.0	Fixed in 2.11.0

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

The primary mitigation is to upgrade the Aiven-Open BigQuery Connector for Apache Kafka to version 2.11.0 or later, where this vulnerability is addressed. Until upgrading is possible, organizations should enforce strict access controls on who can configure the connector to prevent unauthorized or malicious credential configurations. Implement validation and sanitization of credential JSON files before they are used by the connector, possibly by integrating additional security checks or using hardened credential management processes. Network segmentation and firewall rules should be applied to limit the connector's ability to reach internal resources, reducing SSRF impact. Monitoring and logging of connector configuration changes and authentication attempts can help detect suspicious activity. Additionally, conduct regular security audits of data pipeline components and credential handling practices to identify and remediate potential weaknesses.

Description

Kafka Connect BigQuery Connector is an implementation of a sink connector from Apache Kafka to Google BigQuery. Prior to 2.11.0, there is an arbitrary file read in Google BigQuery Sink connector. Aiven's Google BigQuery Kafka Connect Sink connector requires Google Cloud credential configurations for authentication to BigQuery services. During connector configuration, users can supply credential JSON files that are processed by Google authentication libraries. The service fails to validate externally-sourced credential configurations before passing them to the authentication libraries. An attacker can exploit this by providing a malicious credential configuration containing crafted credential_source.file paths or credential_source.url endpoints, resulting in arbitrary file reads or SSRF attacks.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data through arbitrary file reads, potentially exposing credentials, configuration files, or other critical information stored on systems running the vulnerable connector. SSRF exploitation could allow attackers to pivot into internal networks, accessing internal services that are otherwise protected, increasing the risk of further compromise. Organizations handling sensitive or regulated data, such as financial institutions, healthcare providers, and government agencies, face heightened risks of data breaches and compliance violations under GDPR. The disruption of data pipelines could also impact business operations reliant on real-time analytics and reporting. Since the vulnerability requires configuration privileges, insider threats or compromised accounts with such permissions are particularly concerning. The lack of known exploits in the wild suggests a window for proactive mitigation before widespread attacks occur.

CWE-73External Control of File Name or Path (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product allows user input to control or influence paths or file names that are used in filesystem operations.
Architecture and Design
When the set of filenames is limited or known, create a mapping from a set of fixed input values (such as numeric IDs) to the actual filenames, and reject all other inputs. For example, ID 1 could map to "inbox.txt" and ID 2 could map to "profile.txt".
Architecture and Design · Operation
Run your code in a "jail" or similar sandbox environment that enforces strict boundaries between the process and the operating system. This may effectively restrict all access to files within a particular directory.
Architecture and Design
For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks…
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.2 (opens in a new tab)
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Subverting Environment Variable Values (opens in a new tab)
Leverage Alternate Encoding (opens in a new tab)
Using Slashes and URL Encoding Combined to Bypass Validation Logic (opens in a new tab)
URL Encoding (opens in a new tab)
Manipulating Web Input to File System Calls (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-918Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessCWE Top 25 (2025): #22OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The web server receives a URL or similar request from an upstream component and retrieves the contents of this URL, but it does not sufficiently ensure that the request is being sent to the expected destination.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Server Side Request Forgery Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Unvalidated Redirects and Forwards (opens in a new tab)
Cross Site Scripting Prevention (opens in a new tab)
DOM based XSS Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.6.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.2.6 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Server Side Request Forgery (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 16 Jan 2026, 17:20 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-73, CWE-918

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats