CVE-2025-26511 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-863 vulnerability in com.instaclustr:cassandra-lucene-index-plugin. A fix is available for com.instaclustr:cassandra-lucene-index-plugin — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Cassandra-Lucene-Index allows bypass of Cassandra RBAC
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2025-26511.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
com.instaclustr:cassandra-lucene-index-plugin☕com.instaclustr:cassandra-lucene-index-pluginReal-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
Summary / Details Systems running the Instaclustr fork of Stratio's Cassandra-Lucene-Index plugin versions 4.0-rc1-1.0.0 through 4.0.16-1.0.0 and 4.1.0-1.0.0 through 4.1.8-1.0.0, installed into Apache Cassandra version 4.x, are susceptible to a vulnerability which when successfully exploited could allow authenticated Cassandra users to remotely bypass RBAC to access data and and escalate their privileges.
Affected Versions
- Cassandra-Lucene-Index plugin versions 4.0-rc1-1.0.0 through 4.0.16-1.0.0
- versions 4.1.0-1.0.0 through 4.1.8-1.0.0 when installed into Apache Cassandra version 4.x.
Required Configuration for Exploit These are the conditions required to enable exploit:
- Cassandra 4.x
- Vulnerable version of the Cassandra-Lucene-Index plugin configured for use
- Data added to tables
- Lucene index created
- Cassandra flush has run
Mitigation/Prevention Mitigation requires dropping all Lucene indexes and stopping use of the plugin. Exploit will be possible any time the required conditions are met.
Solution
Upgrade to a fixed version of the Cassandra-Lucene-Index plugin.
Review users in Cassandra to validate all superuser privileges.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.instaclustr:cassandra-lucene-index-plugin | ≥ 4.0-rc1-1.0.0&&< 4.0.17-1.0.0 | 4.0.17-1.0.0com.instaclustr:cassandra-lucene-index-plugin:4.0.17-1.0.0 |
| ☕Maven | com.instaclustr:cassandra-lucene-index-plugin | ≥ 4.1.0-1.0.0&&< 4.1.8-1.0.1 | 4.1.8-1.0.1com.instaclustr:cassandra-lucene-index-plugin:4.1.8-1.0.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for com.instaclustr:cassandra-lucene-index-plugin, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update com.instaclustr:cassandra-lucene-index-plugin to 4.0.17-1.0.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-26511 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2025-26511 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.