GHSA-qxpc-96fq-wwmg is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-267 vulnerability in org.apache.cassandra:cassandra-all. A fix is available for org.apache.cassandra:cassandra-all — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache Cassandra is vulnerable to privilege escalation in an mTLS environment using MutualTlsAuthenticator
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 GHSA-qxpc-96fq-wwmg.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-qxpc-96fq-wwmg plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.apache.cassandra:cassandra-allReal-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
Privilege escalation in Apache Cassandra 5.0 on an mTLS environment using MutualTlsAuthenticator allows a user with only CREATE permission to associate their own certificate identity with an arbitrary role, including a superuser role, and authenticate as that role via ADD IDENTITY.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 5.0.7+, which fixes this issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.cassandra:cassandra-all | ≥ 5.0-alpha1&&< 5.0.7 | 5.0.7org.apache.cassandra:cassandra-all:5.0.7 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.cassandra:cassandra-all, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.cassandra:cassandra-all to 5.0.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-qxpc-96fq-wwmg 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-qxpc-96fq-wwmg can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-qxpc-96fq-wwmg. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-qxpc-96fq-wwmg in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-qxpc-96fq-wwmg across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.