CVE-2025-53763
📋 TL;DR
An improper access control vulnerability in Azure Databricks allows unauthorized attackers to elevate privileges remotely. This affects organizations using Azure Databricks with insufficient network security controls. Attackers can exploit this over the network without authentication.
💻 Affected Systems
- Azure Databricks
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete compromise of Azure Databricks environment, data exfiltration, lateral movement to connected Azure resources, and persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Unauthorized access to sensitive data, privilege escalation to administrative roles, and potential service disruption.
If Mitigated
Limited impact due to network segmentation, strong authentication requirements, and minimal exposed attack surface.
🎯 Exploit Status
CVSS 9.8 indicates critical severity with network-based, unauthenticated attack vector. No public exploit code confirmed.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Check Microsoft Azure Databricks service updates
Vendor Advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-53763
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into Azure Portal. 2. Navigate to Azure Databricks service. 3. Apply latest service updates. 4. Verify update completion in service health.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Access Restriction
allRestrict network access to Azure Databricks using NSGs, firewalls, or private endpoints
az network nsg rule create --resource-group <RG> --nsg-name <NSG> --name DenyExternalDatabricks --priority 100 --direction Inbound --access Deny --destination-address-prefixes <DatabricksIP> --destination-port-ranges '*' --protocol '*'
Enable Private Link
allConfigure Azure Databricks with Private Endpoints to eliminate public exposure
az network private-endpoint create --resource-group <RG> --name DatabricksPE --connection-name DatabricksConn --private-connection-resource-id <DatabricksResourceID> --group-id databricks_ui_api
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation and zero-trust access controls to Azure Databricks
- Enable enhanced monitoring and alerting for unauthorized access attempts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Azure Databricks service version and compare with patched versions in Microsoft advisoryCheck Version:
az databricks workspace show --resource-group <RG> --name <Workspace> --query properties.workspaceUrlVerify Fix Applied:
Verify service is updated to latest version and test access controls with authorized penetration testing📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual authentication patterns
- Privilege escalation attempts in audit logs
- Access from unexpected IP addresses
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from Databricks clusters
- Suspicious API calls to Databricks control plane
SIEM Query:
AzureDiagnostics | where ResourceProvider == "MICROSOFT.DATABRICKS" | where OperationName contains "Acl" or OperationName contains "Role" | where ResultType == "Failure"