Overview
In the constantly evolving digital landscape, cybersecurity vulnerabilities pose a significant risk to organizations and their infrastructure. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system provides a reference method for publicly known information security vulnerabilities and exposures. One such vulnerability, CVE-2025-53763, specifically affects Azure Databricks, an Apache-based analytics platform optimized for the Microsoft Azure cloud services platform.
This vulnerability holds significant importance given its potential to allow unauthorized attackers to elevate privileges over a network. Such an event could lead to system compromises and data leakage, thereby impacting not only an organization’s operational efficiencies but also its reputation and customer trust.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-53763
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Unauthorized elevation of privileges leading to potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Azure Databricks | All versions prior to the patch
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability arises from improper access control within Azure Databricks. An attacker can exploit this flaw by sending specially crafted network requests to the Azure Databricks server. The server, due to the improper access control, fails to authenticate the request properly and grants the attacker the same access rights as a legitimate user. This allows the attacker to perform unauthorized actions, including modifying, deleting, or accessing sensitive data.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a
conceptual
example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This is a sample HTTP request that an attacker might use:
POST /databricks/api/2.0/secrets/write HTTP/1.1
Host: target.databricks.com
Content-Type: application/json
{
"scope": "myscope",
"key": "mykey",
"string_value": "malicious_value"
}In this example, the attacker attempts to write a secret to the Databricks secret scope. In the presence of the CVE-2025-53763 vulnerability, this request would be accepted and processed without adequate authentication checks.
Mitigation and Prevention
To mitigate this vulnerability, it is recommended to apply the vendor-released patch as soon as possible. In the absence of a patch, temporary mitigation can be achieved through the use of a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to monitor and block any malicious requests. Furthermore, regular monitoring of network activity and maintaining up-to-date software versions can also help prevent such exploits.