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Elasticsearch CVE-2020-7019

MEDIUM
Privilege Context Switching Error (CWE-270)
2020-08-18 security@elastic.co
6.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Privilege context switching
Impact

CVSS score of 6.5 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction not required.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

This vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network. Successful exploitation could compromise the medium-severity affected system.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 1.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

In Elasticsearch before 7.9.0 and 6.8.12 a field disclosure flaw was found when running a scrolling search with Field Level Security. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.

Affected Packages

maven org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch fix: 6.8.12, 7.9.0

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in maven

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-270. In Elasticsearch before 7.9.0 and 6.8.12 a field disclosure flaw was found when running a scrolling search with Field Level Security. If a user runs the same query another more privileged user recently ran, the scrolling search can leak fields that should be hidden. This could result in an attacker gaining additional permissions against a restricted index. Affected products include: Elastic Elasticsearch. Version information: before 7.9.0.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 6.5 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

DescriptionNVD

In Elasticsearch before 7.9.0 and 6.8.12 a field disclosure flaw was found when running a scrolling search with Field Level Security. If a user runs the same query another more privileged user recently ran, the scrolling search can leak fields that should be hidden. This could result in an attacker gaining additional permissions against a restricted index.

Blast Radius

ecosystem impact
† from your stack dependencies † transitive graph · vuln.today resolves 4-path depth
  • 51 maven packages depend on org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (38 direct, 14 indirect)

Ecosystem-wide dependent count for version 7.0.0.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
1.2%
Top 35% exploitable
Data Quality
2 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 1.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

33
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +32
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:elastic:elasticsearch:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:elastic:elasticsearch:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
CVE-2015-1427 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Feb 17

The Groovy scripting engine in Elasticsearch before 1.3.8 and 1.4.x before 1.4.3 allows remote attackers to bypass the s

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8.1 Jul 28

The default configuration in Elasticsearch before 1.2 enables dynamic scripting, which allows remote attackers to execut

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Directory traversal vulnerability in Elasticsearch before 1.6.1 allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via unsp

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Directory traversal vulnerability in Elasticsearch before 1.4.5 and 1.5.x before 1.5.2, when a site plugin is enabled, a

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7.5 Oct 26

A flaw was discovered in Elasticsearch, affecting the _search API that allowed a specially crafted query string to cause

CVE-2026-82409 HIGH POC
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Maliciously crafted on-chain account names processed by Klever-Go prior to 1.7.20 are spliced into Elasticsearch _bulk r

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All versions of Elastic Cloud Enterprise has the Elasticsearch “anonymous” user enabled by default in deployed clusters.

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A memory disclosure vulnerability was identified in Elasticsearch 7.10.0 to 7.13.3 error reporting. Rated medium severit

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Remote code execution in Elasticsearch's machine learning component allows an authenticated user with ML model deploymen

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Heap corruption and potential remote code execution in Elasticsearch's native ML inference engine can be triggered by an

CVE-2020-7014 HIGH
8.8 Jun 03

The fix for CVE-2020-7009 was found to be incomplete. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exp

CVE-2020-7009 HIGH
8.8 Mar 31

Elasticsearch versions from 6.7.0 before 6.8.8 and 7.0.0 before 7.6.2 contain a privilege escalation flaw if an attacker

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