Apache Storm Client: RCE through Unsafe Deserialization via Kerberos TGT Credential Handling

Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in Apache Storm.

Versions Affected:
before 2.8.6.

Description:
When processing topology credentials submitted via the Nimbus Thrift API, Storm deserializes the base64-encoded TGT blob using ObjectInputStream.readObject() without any class filtering or validation. An authenticated user with topology submission rights could supply a crafted serialized object in the "TGT" credential field, leading to remote code execution in both the Nimbus and Worker JVMs.

Mitigation:
2.x users should upgrade to 2.8.6.

Users who cannot upgrade immediately should monkey-patch an ObjectInputFilter allow-list to ClientAuthUtils.deserializeKerberosTicket() restricting deserialized classes to javax.security.auth.kerberos.KerberosTicket and its known dependencies. A guide on how to do this is available in the release notes of 2.8.6.

Credit: This issue was discovered by K.