CVE-2023-50290: 
Java vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2023-50290 is an Exposure of Sensitive Information vulnerability affecting Apache Solr. The vulnerability exists in the Solr Metrics API, which publishes all unprotected environment variables available to each Apache Solr instance. The issue affects Apache Solr versions from 9.0.0 to 9.2.1. While users can specify which environment variables to hide, the default list is designed primarily for known secret Java system properties (Apache Security).

The vulnerability stems from the Solr Metrics API's behavior of exposing environment variables. Unlike Java system properties which are set per-Java-process, environment variables cannot be strictly defined in Solr and may be set for the entire host. The Metrics API is protected by the 'metrics-read' permission, meaning that Solr Clouds with Authorization enabled are only vulnerable through users who have this specific permission. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 Base Score of 6.5 (MEDIUM) with the vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N (NVD Database).

The vulnerability could lead to the exposure of sensitive information through environment variables to unauthorized actors. Since environment variables are set for the entire host, this could potentially expose system-wide configuration details and sensitive data that might be stored in these variables (Security Online).

Users are recommended to upgrade to Apache Solr version 9.3.0 or later, where environment variables are no longer published via the Metrics API. This upgrade completely mitigates the vulnerability by removing the exposure of environment variables through the Metrics API interface (Apache Security).