Apache Druid’s Kerberos authenticator uses a weak fallback secret
Apache Druid’s Kerberos authenticator uses a weak fallback secret when the druid.auth.authenticator.kerberos.cookieSignatureSecret configuration is not explicitly set. In this case, the secret is generated using ThreadLocalRandom, which is not a crypto-graphically secure random number generator. This may allow an attacker to predict or brute force the secret used to sign authentication cookies, potentially enabling token forgery or authentication bypass. Additionally, each process generates its own fallback secret, resulting in inconsistent secrets across nodes. This causes authentication failures in distributed or multi-broker deployments, effectively leading to a incorrectly configured clusters. Users are advised to configure a strong druid.auth.authenticator.kerberos.cookieSignatureSecret
This issue affects Apache Druid: through 34.0.0.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 35.0.0, which fixes the issue making it mandatory to set druid.auth.authenticator.kerberos.cookieSignatureSecret when using the Kerberos authenticator. Services will fail to come up if the secret is not set.
Affected software
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| Platform | Package | Vulnerable versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.apache.druid:druid | < 35.0.0 | 35.0.0 |
References
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H- Weakness (CWE)
CWE-338- Platform
- Java / Kotlin (Maven)
- Package
org.apache.druid:druid- Disclosed
- 26.11.2025
- Updated
- 11.10.2026 12:22
Sources and licenses
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-w88f-4875-99c8 - CC BY 4.0
Vulnerability history: org.apache.druid:druid
All published vulnerabilities of this package (Java / Kotlin (Maven)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.
- Total entries
- 8
- First → latest
- 06.2021 11.2025
- Without a fix
- 0
- Exploited in attacks
- 0
Severity breakdown
- Critical 1
- High 2
- Medium 4
- Low 1
Disclosures per year
- 2021: 2
- 2022: 3
- 2023: 0
- 2024: 1
- 2025: 2
- 2026: 0
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