How severe is CVE-2023-26031?

CVE-2023-26031 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-26031?

CVE-2023-26031 affects the following packages: org.apache.hadoop:hadoop-yarn-project (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2023-26031?

Update org.apache.hadoop:hadoop-yarn-project to 3.3.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-26031 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-26031 in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.hadoop:hadoop-yarn-project. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-26031 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

How does O3 Security protect against CVE-2023-26031?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-26031 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2023-26031 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2023-26031 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2023-26031?

CVE-2023-26031 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.1%, placing it in the 79th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

When was CVE-2023-26031 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-26031 was published on November 16, 2023 and was last updated on April 10, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CVE-2023-26031: Apache Hadoop allows local user to gain root pr…

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk79th percentile-7.18%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Blast Radius

1 pkg affected

☕org.apache.hadoop:hadoop-yarn-project

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Relative library resolution in linux container-executor binary in Apache Hadoop 3.3.1-3.3.4 on Linux allows local user to gain root privileges. If the YARN cluster is accepting work from remote (authenticated) users, this MAY permit remote users to gain root privileges.

Hadoop 3.3.0 updated the " YARN Secure Containers https://hadoop.apache.org/docs/stable/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-site/SecureContainer.html " to add a feature for executing user-submitted applications in isolated linux containers.

The native binary HADOOP_HOME/bin/container-executor is used to launch these containers; it must be owned by root and have the suid bit set in order for the YARN processes to run the containers as the specific users submitting the jobs.

The patch " YARN-10495 https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/YARN-10495 . make the rpath of container-executor configurable" modified the library loading path for loading .so files from "$ORIGIN/" to ""$ORIGIN/:../lib/native/". This is the a path through which libcrypto.so is located. Thus it is is possible for a user with reduced privileges to install a malicious libcrypto library into a path to which they have write access, invoke the container-executor command, and have their modified library executed as root. If the YARN cluster is accepting work from remote (authenticated) users, and these users' submitted job are executed in the physical host, rather than a container, then the CVE permits remote users to gain root privileges.

The fix for the vulnerability is to revert the change, which is done in YARN-11441 https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/YARN-11441 , "Revert YARN-10495". This patch is in hadoop-3.3.5.

To determine whether a version of container-executor is vulnerable, use the readelf command. If the RUNPATH or RPATH value contains the relative path "./lib/native/" then it is at risk

$ readelf -d container-executor|grep 'RUNPATH|RPATH' 0x000000000000001d (RUNPATH) Library runpath: [$ORIGIN/:../lib/native/]

If it does not, then it is safe:

$ readelf -d container-executor|grep 'RUNPATH|RPATH' 0x000000000000001d (RUNPATH) Library runpath: [$ORIGIN/]

For an at-risk version of container-executor to enable privilege escalation, the owner must be root and the suid bit must be set

$ ls -laF /opt/hadoop/bin/container-executor ---Sr-s---. 1 root hadoop 802968 May 9 20:21 /opt/hadoop/bin/container-executor

A safe installation lacks the suid bit; ideally is also not owned by root.

$ ls -laF /opt/hadoop/bin/container-executor -rwxr-xr-x. 1 yarn hadoop 802968 May 9 20:21 /opt/hadoop/bin/container-executor

This configuration does not support Yarn Secure Containers, but all other hadoop services, including YARN job execution outside secure containers continue to work.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.apache.hadoop:hadoop-yarn-project`	≥ 3.3.1&&< 3.3.5	3.3.5

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.hadoop:hadoop-yarn-project. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update org.apache.hadoop:hadoop-yarn-project to 3.3.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-26031 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-26031 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Tailored to CVE-2023-26031. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Relative library resolution in linux container-executor binary in Apache Hadoop 3.3.1-3.3.4 on Linux allows local user to gain root privileges. If the YARN cluster is accepting work from remote (authenticated) users, this MAY permit remote users to gain root privileges. Hadoop 3.3.0 updated the " YARN Secure Containers https://hadoop.apache.org/docs/stable/hadoop-yarn/hadoop-yarn-site/SecureContainer.html " to add a feature for executing user-submitted applications in isolated linux containers. The native binary HADOOP_HOME/bin/container-executor is used to launch these containers; it must b

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2023-26031 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2023-26031 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

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CVE-2023-26031