This issue affects Apache Spark versions before 3.4.4, 3.5.2 and 4.0.0. Apache Spark versions before 4.0.0, 3.5.2 and 3.4.4 use an insecure default network encryption cipher for RPC communication between nodes. When spark.network.crypto.enabled is set to true (it is set to false by default), but spark.network.crypto.cipher is not explicitly configured, Spark defaults to AES in CTR mode (AES/CTR/NoPadding), which provides encryption without authentication. This vulnerability allows a man-in-the-middle attacker to modify encrypted RPC traffic undetected by flipping bits in ciphertext, potentially compromising heartbeat messages or application data and affecting the integrity of Spark workflows. To mitigate this issue, users should either configure spark.network.crypto.cipher to AES/GCM/NoPadding to enable authenticated encryption or enable SSL encryption by setting spark.ssl.enabled to true, which provides stronger transport security.
History

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description This issue affects Apache Spark versions before 3.4.4, 3.5.2 and 4.0.0. Apache Spark versions before 4.0.0, 3.5.2 and 3.4.4 use an insecure default network encryption cipher for RPC communication between nodes. When spark.network.crypto.enabled is set to true (it is set to false by default), but spark.network.crypto.cipher is not explicitly configured, Spark defaults to AES in CTR mode (AES/CTR/NoPadding), which provides encryption without authentication. This vulnerability allows a man-in-the-middle attacker to modify encrypted RPC traffic undetected by flipping bits in ciphertext, potentially compromising heartbeat messages or application data and affecting the integrity of Spark workflows. To mitigate this issue, users should either configure spark.network.crypto.cipher to AES/GCM/NoPadding to enable authenticated encryption or enable SSL encryption by setting spark.ssl.enabled to true, which provides stronger transport security.
Title Apache Spark, Apache Spark: RPC encryption defaults to unauthenticated AES-CTR mode, enabling man-in-the-middle ciphertext modification attacks
Weaknesses CWE-326
CWE-347
References

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: apache

Published:

Updated: 2025-10-15T07:19:25.493Z

Reserved: 2025-08-06T00:27:38.654Z

Link: CVE-2025-55039

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2025-10-15T08:15:38.460

Modified: 2025-10-15T08:15:38.460

Link: CVE-2025-55039

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.