{"id":"GHSA-j2q8-xx3q-8fqh","summary":"Apache Storm's Improper Handling of TLS Client Authentication Failure Leads to Anonymous Principal Assignment","details":"Improper Handling of TLS Client Authentication Failure Leading to Anonymous Principal Assignment in Apache Storm\n\nVersions Affected: up to 2.8.7\n\nDescription: When TLS transport is enabled in Apache Storm without requiring client certificate authentication (the default configuration), the TlsTransportPlugin assigns a fallback principal (CN=ANONYMOUS) if no client certificate is presented or if certificate verification fails. The underlying SSLPeerUnverifiedException is caught and suppressed rather than rejecting the connection.\n\nThis fail-open behavior means an unauthenticated client can establish a TLS connection and receive a valid principal identity. If the configured authorizer (e.g., SimpleACLAuthorizer) does not explicitly deny access to CN=ANONYMOUS, this may result in unauthorized access to Storm services. The condition is logged at debug level only, reducing visibility in production.\n\nImpact: Unauthenticated clients may be assigned a principal identity, potentially bypassing authorization in permissive or misconfigured environments.\n\nMitigation: Users should upgrade to 2.8.7 in which TLS authentication failures are handled in a fail-closed manner.\n\nUsers who cannot upgrade immediately should:\n- Enable mandatory client certificate authentication (nimbus.thrift.tls.client.auth.required: true)\n- Ensure authorization rules explicitly deny access to CN=ANONYMOUS\n- Review all ACL configurations for implicit default-allow behavior","aliases":["CVE-2026-41081"],"modified":"2026-05-05T22:26:26.587422Z","published":"2026-04-27T15:30:52Z","database_specific":{"cwe_ids":["CWE-287"],"severity":"MODERATE","github_reviewed":true,"github_reviewed_at":"2026-05-05T22:06:26Z","nvd_published_at":"2026-04-27T14:16:48Z"},"references":[{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-41081"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/apache/storm"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://lists.apache.org/thread/plxx5l29dvplk5rwzdcq53rdfl6v4gs8"},{"type":"WEB","url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/25/3"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"org.apache.storm:storm-client","ecosystem":"Maven","purl":"pkg:maven/org.apache.storm/storm-client"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"2.8.7"}]}],"versions":["2.0.0","2.1.0","2.1.1","2.2.0","2.2.1","2.3.0","2.4.0","2.5.0","2.6.0","2.6.1","2.6.2","2.6.3","2.6.4","2.7.0","2.7.1","2.8.0","2.8.1","2.8.2","2.8.3","2.8.4","2.8.5","2.8.6"],"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/04/GHSA-j2q8-xx3q-8fqh/GHSA-j2q8-xx3q-8fqh.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.9.0","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N"}]}