Apache Kafka Clients: Privilege escalation to filesystem read-access via automatic ConfigProvider

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS 4.0

6.8 · CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N · score source

EPSS

• CVE-2024-31141: 1.33% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 71.09 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties, Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in Apache Kafka Clients. Apache Kafka Clients accept configuration data for customizing behavior, and includes ConfigProvider plugins in order to manipulate these configurations. Apache Kafka also provides FileConfigProvider, DirectoryConfigProvider, and EnvVarConfigProvider implementations which include the ability to read from disk or environment variables. In applications where Apache Kafka Clients configurations can be specified by an untrusted party, attackers may use these ConfigProviders to read arbitrary contents of the disk and environment variables. In particular, this flaw may be used in Apache Kafka Connect to escalate from REST API access to filesystem/environment access, which may be undesirable in certain environments, including SaaS products. This issue affects Apache Kafka Clients: from from 2.3.0 through 3.5.2, 3.6.0 through 3.6.2, and 3.7.0. Users with affected…

Published by the source

19 Nov 2024, 09:30 UTC

Last modified by the source

18 Feb 2025, 21:00 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 16:35 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-2x2g-32r7-p4x8

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2024-31141

Advisory: Apache Kafka Clients: Privilege escalation to filesystem read-access via automatic ConfigProvider
IDs: CVE-2024-31141, GHSA-2x2g-32r7-p4x8
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2024-31141 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 16:35 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 6.8)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: org.apache.kafka:kafka-clients 3.7.1. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven org.apache.kafka:kafka-clients: affected >= 2.3.0, < 3.7.1; fixed in 3.7.1

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven org.apache.kafka:kafka-clients: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on org.apache.kafka:kafka-clients.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2x2g-32r7-p4x8 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-2x2g-32r7-p4x8 lists affected ranges: Maven org.apache.kafka:kafka-clients >=2.3.0 <3.7.1)

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