CVE-2025-27696 Overview
CVE-2025-27696 is an Incorrect Authorization vulnerability in Apache Superset that allows authenticated users with read permissions to perform unauthorized ownership takeover of dashboards, charts, or datasets. This broken access control flaw enables privilege escalation within the application, potentially allowing lower-privileged users to gain control over critical data visualization assets they should not own.
Critical Impact
Authenticated users with only read permissions can take ownership of dashboards, charts, or datasets, leading to unauthorized data manipulation, access control bypass, and potential data integrity compromise across the organization's analytics infrastructure.
Affected Products
- Apache Superset versions through 4.1.1
- All Apache Superset deployments utilizing dashboard, chart, or dataset ownership models
- Organizations relying on Superset's role-based access control for data governance
Discovery Timeline
- May 13, 2025 - CVE-2025-27696 published to NVD
- September 29, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-27696
Vulnerability Analysis
This vulnerability stems from improper authorization checks within Apache Superset's ownership management functionality. The flaw is classified under CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization), indicating that the application fails to properly verify whether a user has sufficient privileges before allowing them to modify ownership attributes of dashboards, charts, or datasets.
The attack requires network access and low-level authentication (read permissions), but no user interaction is needed to exploit the vulnerability. While the vulnerability does not directly expose confidential data, it enables integrity violations by allowing unauthorized users to claim ownership of analytics assets. This ownership takeover can have cascading effects on downstream systems that rely on Superset's authorization model.
Root Cause
The root cause of CVE-2025-27696 lies in insufficient authorization validation within Apache Superset's ownership transfer mechanism. When processing requests to modify ownership of dashboards, charts, or datasets, the application fails to properly verify that the requesting user has the appropriate permissions beyond basic read access. This creates a horizontal privilege escalation scenario where authenticated users can perform actions reserved for asset owners or administrators.
Attack Vector
The vulnerability is exploitable over the network by any authenticated user who has been granted read permissions to a dashboard, chart, or dataset. An attacker can craft malicious API requests to the Superset backend that manipulate ownership attributes without triggering proper authorization checks. The attack flow involves:
- Authenticating to Apache Superset with a low-privilege account (read-only permissions)
- Identifying target dashboards, charts, or datasets
- Submitting ownership modification requests that bypass authorization validation
- Gaining full ownership control over the targeted assets
Once ownership is obtained, the attacker can modify, delete, or restrict access to critical analytics resources, potentially disrupting business operations or compromising data integrity.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-27696
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected changes to dashboard, chart, or dataset ownership in Superset audit logs
- Users appearing as owners of assets they did not create or were not granted ownership of
- Unusual API activity patterns involving ownership modification endpoints from read-only accounts
- Access control anomalies where users have elevated permissions inconsistent with their assigned roles
Detection Strategies
- Monitor Apache Superset application logs for ownership change events and correlate with user permission levels
- Implement alerting on API endpoints related to asset ownership modifications from non-administrative accounts
- Review Superset database tables for unexpected ownership attribute changes
- Deploy network-level monitoring to detect suspicious API request patterns targeting ownership management endpoints
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable comprehensive audit logging in Apache Superset to track all ownership modification attempts
- Configure SIEM rules to alert on privilege escalation indicators within Superset environments
- Implement regular access control reviews comparing actual ownership against expected baselines
- Establish baseline behavior patterns for authenticated users to detect anomalous activity
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-27696
Immediate Actions Required
- Upgrade Apache Superset to version 4.1.2 or above immediately
- Review all dashboard, chart, and dataset ownership records for unauthorized changes
- Audit user accounts with read permissions for any suspicious activity
- Implement network segmentation to limit exposure of Superset instances to trusted networks only
Patch Information
Apache has released version 4.1.2 which addresses this vulnerability. Organizations should upgrade to this version or later to remediate CVE-2025-27696. The official security advisory is available on the Apache Security Mailing List. Additional technical discussion is available on the Openwall OSS-Security list.
Workarounds
- Restrict network access to Apache Superset instances using firewall rules and VPN requirements
- Review and minimize read permissions granted to users until the patch can be applied
- Implement additional authentication layers such as MFA for Superset access
- Enable and monitor audit logging to detect any exploitation attempts before patching
# Example: Verify Apache Superset version
superset version
# Ensure output shows 4.1.2 or higher
# If running via Docker, check image version:
docker inspect superset/superset | grep -i version
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
