Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Apache Ranger Hive Plugin could let a user with ordinary SELECT access take ownership of Hive tables. That can undermine data governance because ownership often controls who can change permissions or manage sensitive data. The vendor-recommended fix is upgrading to Apache Ranger Hive Plugin 2.4.0 or later.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority data governance risk if Apache Ranger protects Hive. It can let low-privileged users gain control over table ownership, affecting confidentiality and integrity. Prioritize upgrade planning for affected clusters, especially those hosting sensitive datasets.
Technical view
CVE-2021-40331 is an incorrect permission assignment issue in Apache Ranger Hive Plugin 2.0.0 through 2.3.0. When enabled, a user with SELECT privilege on a database can alter Hive table ownership. CVSS 3.1 is 8.1, network-accessible, low complexity, low privilege, no user interaction, with high confidentiality and integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to environments using Apache Ranger Hive Plugin versions 2.0.0 through 2.3.0 with Hive. Risk is higher where many users or service accounts have SELECT privileges on databases containing sensitive or regulated data.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not cite active exploitation, and this CVE is not marked as KEV. The issue requires an authenticated user with SELECT privilege. The available evidence supports privilege abuse and governance bypass risk, not unauthenticated compromise.
Researcher notes
Evidence is concise but clear: affected component, affected versions, required privilege, impact class, and recommended upgrade are named. The bundle does not include proof-of-concept details, exploit observations, or alternate mitigations beyond upgrading and reviewing vendor guidance.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Apache Ranger Hive Plugin to version 2.4.0 or later.
- Inventory Hive environments using Ranger Hive Plugin 2.0.0 through 2.3.0.
- Review Apache vendor guidance before deploying the upgrade.
- Reduce unnecessary SELECT privileges on Hive databases until upgraded.
- Audit recent Hive table ownership changes for unexpected activity.
Validation and detection
- Confirm the installed Apache Ranger Hive Plugin version in each Hive environment.
- Check whether Ranger Hive Plugin is enabled for Hive authorization.
- Identify users and service accounts with database-level SELECT privileges.
- Review audit logs for table ownership changes by low-privileged accounts.
- Verify the upgrade reaches Apache Ranger Hive Plugin 2.4.0 or later.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
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ATT&CK lookup starting points
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CWE-732: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupDatabase behavior lookup
The CVE wording references database injection or access, so collection and exfiltration review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-40331 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N2.85.2Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.1HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://lists.apache.org/thread/s68yls6cnkdmzn1k4hqt50vs6wjvt2rnCVE reference · vendor-advisory
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.