Apache Polaris can issue broad temporary ("vended") storage credentials during staged table creation before the effective table location has been validated or durably reserved
Why It Matters
Analysis dossierWhy It Matters
Apache Polaris can issue broad temporary ("vended") storage credentials during staged table creation before the effective table location has been validated or durably reserved. Those temporary credentials are meant to limit the scope of accessible table data and metadata, but this scope limitation becomes attacker- directed because the attacker can choose a reachable target location. In the confirmed variant, if the caller supplies a custom `location` during stage create and requests credential vending, Apache Polaris uses that location to construct delegated storage credentials immediately. The stage-create path itself neither runs the normal location validation nor the overlap checks before those credentials are issued. Closely related to that, the staged-create flow also accepts `write.data.path` / `write.metadata.path` in the request properties and feeds those location overrides into the same effective table location set used for credential vending. Those fields are secondary to the main custom-`location` exploit, but they are still attacker-influenced location inputs that should be validated before any credentials are issued.
High Severity / Review
Unknown
Unknown
Risk basis: SOC ecosystem technology relevance; CRITICAL severity; Critical source severity without confirmed exploitation
Affected Products & Remediation
1 source-backed product- apache polaris · < 1.4.1 · NVD CPE · Source
Vendor or catalog guidance (source)
Not provided by source
Known exploitation (source facts)
Only what a source states. Unknown means no source has said either way; it is not "not exploited".
- CISA KEV
- Unknown
- Exploited (source statement)
- Unknown
- Publicly disclosed (source)
- Unknown
Suggested hunting (rule-based inference)
SecOps Signal recommendation (rule-based inference). These steps are hunting hypotheses from the vulnerability class; they do not state or imply that exploitation occurred here or anywhere.
Matched authorization-bypass (CWE-862)
Exposure
- Locate affected authorization controls and verify deployed versions.Telemetry: Application inventory · The source must identify the affected control. · Rule authorization-bypass
Exploitation evidence
- Review privileged operations performed by unexpected users on affected deployments.Telemetry: Application audit logs · Authorization anomalies can support a targeted hunt. · Rule authorization-bypass
Response
- Confirm the vendor mitigation and recheck access decisions.Telemetry: Application audit logs · Access testing verifies the local fix. · Rule authorization-bypass
CISA KEV Record
CISA KEV status was not determined for this record.
Change History & Source Data
— No recorded material change
- CNA / source
- security@apache.org
- Record status · verification
- UPDATED · NVD API
- CPE
- cpe:2.3:a:apache:polaris:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Evidence & Provenance
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DeviceTvmSoftwareVulnerabilities| where CveId == "CVE-2026-42809"| project DeviceId, DeviceName, OSPlatform, OSVersion, SoftwareVendor, SoftwareName, SoftwareVersion, CveId, VulnerabilitySeverityLevel, RecommendedSecurityUpdate, RecommendedSecurityUpdateId| sort by VulnerabilitySeverityLevel descLooking up related community queries…