CVE-2023-49734: Apache Superset Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2023-49734 Overview

CVE-2023-49734 is an improper authorization vulnerability (CWE-863) affecting Apache Superset, a popular open-source business intelligence and data visualization platform. The vulnerability allows an authenticated user with the Gamma role to improperly gain write permissions to charts by creating a dashboard and adding existing charts to it. When a Gamma user adds charts to their dashboard, they automatically become an owner of those charts, effectively bypassing the intended access control mechanisms.

Critical Impact

Authenticated users with limited privileges can escalate their permissions to gain unauthorized write access to charts they should only have read access to, potentially allowing data manipulation and unauthorized modifications to business intelligence visualizations.

Affected Products

• Apache Superset versions before 2.1.2
• Apache Superset versions from 3.0.0 before 3.0.2

Discovery Timeline

• 2023-12-19 - CVE-2023-49734 published to NVD
• 2025-02-13 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2023-49734

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a broken access control flaw in Apache Superset's dashboard and chart ownership model. The core issue lies in how Superset handles chart ownership assignment when charts are added to dashboards.

In Apache Superset, the Gamma role is designed as a restricted user role with limited permissions. Gamma users should typically have read-only access to data sources and dashboards shared with them. However, the vulnerable implementation incorrectly assigns chart ownership to any user who adds a chart to a dashboard they create, regardless of their original permission level on that chart.

This improper authorization allows a Gamma user to:

1. Create a new dashboard
2. Add existing charts (that they may only have view access to) to the dashboard
3. Automatically become an owner of those charts
4. Gain full write permissions including the ability to modify, delete, or alter the chart configurations

Root Cause

The root cause is an improper authorization check (CWE-863) in the dashboard creation and chart association logic. The application fails to verify whether the user has appropriate ownership privileges before granting ownership rights when charts are associated with a new dashboard. The ownership assignment mechanism does not differentiate between users who should have read-only access versus those with legitimate write permissions.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and requires low privileges (authenticated Gamma user). No user interaction is required beyond the attacker's own actions.

An attacker with a Gamma user account exploits this vulnerability by:

1. Authenticating to the Apache Superset instance with Gamma role credentials
2. Creating a new dashboard through the standard user interface
3. Adding target charts to the newly created dashboard using the chart selection functionality
4. The system automatically assigns ownership of those charts to the attacker
5. The attacker now has write permissions to modify or delete the charts, affecting data integrity for all users who rely on those visualizations

This privilege escalation can have significant impact on data integrity, as modified charts could display incorrect information to business decision-makers.

Detection Methods for CVE-2023-49734

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected changes in chart ownership records showing Gamma users as owners
• Audit logs indicating Gamma users modifying charts they did not originally create
• Dashboard creation events followed by rapid addition of multiple pre-existing charts
• Chart modification events from users who should only have read access

Detection Strategies

• Review Apache Superset audit logs for chart ownership changes involving Gamma role users
• Monitor for dashboards created by Gamma users containing charts owned by other users
• Implement alerting for any ownership transfers or modifications by restricted role users
• Compare chart ownership records against authorized owner lists periodically

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive audit logging in Apache Superset to track ownership changes
• Configure alerts for chart modifications by users with the Gamma role
• Implement regular access control reviews comparing actual permissions against intended permissions
• Monitor dashboard creation activities by lower-privileged users

How to Mitigate CVE-2023-49734

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade Apache Superset to version 2.1.3 or 3.0.2 immediately
• Audit existing chart ownerships for any unauthorized ownership assignments
• Review all dashboards created by Gamma users for potential exploitation
• Consider temporarily restricting Gamma user dashboard creation capabilities until patching is complete

Patch Information

Apache has released security patches addressing this vulnerability. Users running affected versions should upgrade to the following fixed versions:

• For the 2.x branch: Upgrade to version 2.1.3 or later
• For the 3.x branch: Upgrade to version 3.0.2 or later

Refer to the Apache Superset Security Advisory for official patch details and upgrade instructions.

Workarounds

• Restrict the Gamma role's ability to create dashboards through custom role configurations
• Implement additional authorization controls at the reverse proxy or application gateway level
• Manually review and revoke any improperly assigned chart ownerships
• Consider creating a custom role with more restrictive permissions until patching is possible

# Example: Review chart ownership in Superset database
# Connect to your Superset metadata database and audit ownership records
psql -d superset -c "SELECT chart.id, chart.slice_name, users.username, users.roles 
FROM slices AS chart 
JOIN ab_user AS users ON chart.created_by_fk = users.id 
WHERE users.roles LIKE '%Gamma%';"