Vulnerability report

Trusted Third Party Report Confirmed Confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2022-33891

Apache Spark Shell command injection vulnerability

Apache Spark · 3.0.3 and earlier to <= 3.0.3

Watch CVE-2022-33891 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 8.8 · High
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Trusted Third Party Report
EPSS
93.2%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2022-33891 is a vulnerability affecting Apache Spark. The Apache Spark UI offers the possibility to enable ACLs via the configuration option spark.acls.enable.

Have exploitation attempts been observed?

Yes. Exploitation attempts have been reported for this vulnerability. Previdian lists it as a known exploited vulnerability. Listed in CISA KEV. Also reported by third-party sources. Confidence is confirmed.

Who is affected?

Apache Spark, including 3.0.3 and earlier to <= 3.0.3, 3.1.1 to 3.1.2 to <= 3.1.2, and 3.2.0 to 3.2.1 to <= 3.2.1.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

The Apache Spark UI offers the possibility to enable ACLs via the configuration option spark.acls.enable

The Apache Spark UI offers the possibility to enable ACLs via the configuration option spark.acls.enable. With an authentication filter, this checks whether a user has access permissions to view or modify the application. If ACLs are enabled, a code path in HttpSecurityFilter can allow someone to perform impersonation by providing an arbitrary user name.

A malicious user might then be able to reach a permission check function that will ultimately build a Unix shell command based on their input, and execute it. This will result in arbitrary shell command execution as the user Spark is currently running as. This affects Apache Spark versions 3.0.3 and earlier, versions 3.1.1 to 3.1.2, and versions 3.2.0 to 3.2.1.

Apache Software Foundation Affected
Apache Spark
Through 3.0.3 Through 3.1.2 Through 3.2.1
Published
18 Jul 2022
Exploitation Attempts Reported
07 Mar 2023
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None

Tags

metasploit nuclei_scanner cisa apache metasploit_scanner

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Evidence of exploitation attempts

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploitation Attempts Observed in the Wild

CISA

Recorded 07 Mar 2023

A trusted third party reported exploitation attempts.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 20 Jul 2022

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
CISA First 2023-03-07 00:00 UTC
The Shadowserver 2026-07-05 00:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/http/apache_spark_rce_cve_2022_33891.rb 28 Apr 2025
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2022/CVE-2022-33891.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

8.8 High

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

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

EPSS

93.2%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') CWE-78

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

Apache Spark UI - Remote Command Injection

nuclei · Created Unknown

apache_spark_rce_cve_2022_33891

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2022-33891

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation attempts

  1. 00:00 UTC

    KEV confirmed by The Shadowserver

    Exploitation attempts reported by an external source

  2. 15:02 UTC

    Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  3. 15:02 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  4. 00:00 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  5. 00:00 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  6. 00:00 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  7. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

Start 14-day Pro trial Read API docs
  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2022-33891

Sample API response 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2022-33891",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 8.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.93244,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}