id: PYSEC-2026-1173
published: "2026-07-07T11:45:27.968141Z"
modified: "2026-07-07T17:23:44.987364Z"
aliases:
- CVE-2023-40610
- GHSA-f678-j579-4xf5
summary: "Apache Superset - Elevation of Privilege"
details: "### Overview\nAn attacker with access to the SQL Lab and the ab_user and ab_user_role tables can elevate his privileges to become administrator.\n\n### Details\nOn a more general level, diverse tables who are supposed to be only readable can be modified using the WITH … AS and RETURNING keywords.\nModification of the table key_value can also be done, which could lead to a Remote Code Execution (cf. \"V7 - Insecure deserialization leading to remote code execution\" report vulnerability).\n\n### Proof of Concept\nSome tables are supposed to accept only SELECT requests from the SQL tab.\n- Attempt to create a new user injected_admin into the ab_user table: [PoC_1](https://github.com/orangecertcc/security-research/blob/main/CVE-2023-40610/PoC_1.png)\n\nBut this protection can be bypassed by using the WITH … AS () syntax with RETURNING value after the INSERT / UPDATE / DELETE query.\nINSERT query accepted by the database due to the use of WITH … AS ( … RETURNING ) syntax:\n  WITH a AS ( INSERT INTO ab_user (id, first_name, last_name, username, email, password) VALUES (2, ‘injected_admin’, ‘injected_admin’, ‘injected_admin’, ‘injected_admin@gmail.com’, ‘{PASSWORD_HASH}’) RETURNING id ) SELECT * FROM a;\n  [PoC_2](https://github.com/orangecertcc/security-research/blob/main/CVE-2023-40610/PoC_2.png)\n  - injected_admin added to the ab_user table: [PoC_3](https://github.com/orangecertcc/security-research/blob/main/CVE-2023-40610/PoC_3.png)\n\nThis method can also be used with UPDATE or DELETE request. A user with access to SELECT on the tables ab_user_role can escalate his privilege to become administrator.\n- Locating the ID of the user ‘Auditeur B’, who has no rights and is not an admin. The request is done being ‘Auditeur B’: [PoC_4](https://github.com/orangecertcc/security-research/blob/main/CVE-2023-40610/PoC_4.png)\n- Locating the rows that keep the role of the user ‘Auditeur B’. The row 36 stores the value 3, indicating the role ‘Alpha’ for ‘Auditeur B’: [PoC_5](https://github.com/orangecertcc/security-research/blob/main/CVE-2023-40610/PoC_5.png)\n- Modification of the row 36 with an UPDATE request embedded in a WITH request: [PoC_6](https://github.com/orangecertcc/security-research/blob/main/CVE-2023-40610/PoC_6.png)\n- ‘Auditeur B’ role has been changed to Admin: [PoC_7](https://github.com/orangecertcc/security-research/blob/main/CVE-2023-40610/PoC_7.png)\n\nThis technique can also be used to inject or modify values of the table key_value, which can potentially lead to a Remote Code Execution (cf. ...).\n\n### Solution\n#### Orange recommendation\nTo fix this vulnerability, we recommends reenforcing the SELECT filter to spot INSERT / UPDATE / DELETE keywords even in WITH requests.\n#### Security patch\nUpgrade to Superset version 2.1.2.\n\n### References\nhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40610\nhttps://lists.apache.org/thread/jvgxpk4dbxyqtsgtl4pdgbd520rc0rot\n\n### Credits\nLEXFO for [Orange Innovation][orange]\n\n[Orange CERT-CC][ora] at [Orange group][orange]\n\n[ora]: <https://cert.orange.com/>\n[orange]: <https://www.orange.com/>\n\n### Timeline\n**Date reported:** July 27, 2023\n**Date fixed:** November 27, 2023"
affected:
- package:
    name: apache-superset
    ecosystem: PyPI
    purl: pkg:pypi/apache-superset
  ranges:
  - type: ECOSYSTEM
    events:
    - introduced: "0"
    - fixed: 2.1.2
  versions:
  - 0.34.0
  - 0.34.1
  - 0.35.1
  - 0.35.2
  - 0.36.0
  - 0.37.0
  - 0.37.1
  - 0.37.2
  - 0.38.0
  - 0.38.1
  - 1.0.0
  - 1.0.1
  - 1.1.0
  - 1.2.0
  - 1.3.0
  - 1.3.1
  - 1.3.2
  - 1.4.0
  - 1.4.1
  - 1.4.2
  - 1.5.0
  - 1.5.1
  - 1.5.2
  - 1.5.3
  - 2.0.0
  - 2.0.1
  - 2.1.0
  - 2.1.1
  - 2.1.1rc1
  - 2.1.1rc2
  - 2.1.1rc3
references:
- type: WEB
  url: https://github.com/orangecertcc/security-research/security/advisories/GHSA-f678-j579-4xf5
- type: ADVISORY
  url: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40610
- type: PACKAGE
  url: https://github.com/apache/superset
- type: WEB
  url: https://lists.apache.org/thread/jvgxpk4dbxyqtsgtl4pdgbd520rc0rot
- type: WEB
  url: http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/11/27/2
- type: PACKAGE
  url: https://pypi.org/project/apache-superset
- type: ADVISORY
  url: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-f678-j579-4xf5
severity:
- type: CVSS_V3
  score: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N