Description

Improper neutralization of argument delimiters in a command ('argument injection') in Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "10.0",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-20T22:17:52.010Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-20T22:17:52.010Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An improper neutralization of argument delimiters vulnerability, classified as argument injection, exists within Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra. This security flaw enables an unauthorized remote attacker to execute arbitrary code over the network. The vulnerability poses significant risk implications, potentially leading to total compromise of the affected database service instance, unauthorized data access, and lateral movement within the cloud environment. Exploitation of this vulnerability requires network access to the target service without necessitating prior authentication or specific elevated privileges, provided the input parameters are inadequately sanitized before being processed by underlying command-line interfaces or system shells.",
  "technicalDetails": "The root cause of the vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of argument delimiters within the input handling mechanisms of Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra. When user-supplied data or parameters are passed to internal command execution routines without strict sanitization, escaping, or validation, an attacker can manipulate argument delimiters such as spaces, quotes, or dash flags.\nDuring the attack flow, a remote attacker transmits a crafted payload over the network targeting the vulnerable component within Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra. Because the application fails to properly delimit arguments, the injected characters break the intended command structure and append malicious command-line arguments or entirely separate commands.\nThis exploitation method leverages the privileges of the service execution context to run arbitrary code on the underlying host operating system. The vulnerability is exposed over the network, requiring no prior authentication or privileged access. Upon successful payload delivery and execution, the post-exploitation impact includes arbitrary code execution, potential escalation of privileges, data exfiltration, and compromise of the underlying Cassandra node integrity."
}