CVE-2022-38649: Fixing an OS Command Injection Vulnerability in Apache Airflow Pinot Provider

Introduction:
CVE-2022-38649 deals with a security vulnerability found in the Apache Airflow Pinot Provider. This post presents an in-depth look at the improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command (also known as OS Command Injection). We will discuss the issue's specifics, its potential impact, and how to resolve it.

Background:
OS Command Injection is a critical vulnerability that can be exploited to allow an attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the targeted system. It occurs when an application does not properly neutralize user input before passing it to system commands. In this case, the vulnerability resides within Apache Airflow's Pinot Provider Plugin and affects versions before 4...

Exploit Details:
The exploit lies in the task execution context of Apache Airflow, where an attacker without write access to DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) files can take control of the commands executed. Here's a code snippet highlighting the issue:

# In file pinot_operator.py
class PinotOperator(BaseOperator):

    [...]

    def execute(self, context):
        [...]

        command = f"pinot-admin.sh {self.command} {self.command_args}"
        process = subprocess.Popen(command, stdout=sys.stdout, stderr=sys.PIPE, shell=True)

In the code above, the self.command and self.command_args variables derive their contents from user input, without proper filtering or sanitization. This enables the possibility of OS Command Injection.

Affected Versions:
This issue affects Apache Airflow Pinot Provider versions before 4... Furthermore, it impacts any Apache Airflow installations using versions before 2.3. if the Pinot Provider is installed.

Solution:
To remediate the vulnerability, upgrading to Apache Airflow Pinot Provider version 4.. is recommended. Please note that this version requires Apache Airflow 2.3. or higher, meaning you may need to upgrade your core Apache Airflow installation as well.
Once your core Apache Airflow version is 2.3. or higher, you can manually install the Pinot Provider version 4.., which resolves the vulnerability.

Here's a quick guide on how to install the updated Pinot Provider

# Make sure your Airflow version is at least 2.3.
pip install --upgrade apache-airflow

# Install Pinot Provider version 4..
pip install apache-airflow-pinot-provider==4..

Original References

1. The CVE-2022-38649 official vulnerability announcement from NVD: CVE®.
2. The Apache Airflow GitHub repository containing the updated Pinot Provider: GitHub.

Conclusion:
It is crucial to ensure that your Apache Airflow and Pinot Provider installations are updated to the latest secure versions to mitigate the risk of OS command injection vulnerabilities. The steps mentioned in this post will help you upgrade your system and protect it from potential attacks.

Timeline

Published on: 11/22/2022 10:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 04/14/2023 15:04:00 UTC