Skip to main content

Elasticsearch CVE-2020-7020

LOW
Privilege Context Switching Error (CWE-270)
2020-10-22 security@elastic.co
3.1
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Privilege context switching
Impact

CVSS score of 3.1 (LOW). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, high 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 low-severity affected system.

Monitor Track and reassess. Why: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9).
Patch available 1.0% exploitation probability (EPSS)

Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.

Alert me

AnalysisAI

Elasticsearch versions before 6.8.13 and 7.9.2 contain a document disclosure flaw when Document or Field Level Security is used. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. 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: 6.8.13, 7.9.2

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. Elasticsearch versions before 6.8.13 and 7.9.2 contain a document disclosure flaw when Document or Field Level Security is used. Search queries do not properly preserve security permissions when executing certain complex queries. This could result in the search disclosing the existence of documents the attacker should not be able to view. This could result in an attacker gaining additional insight into potentially sensitive indices. Affected products include: Elastic Elasticsearch. Version information: before 6.8.13.

Know when Elasticsearch gets its next vulnerability

  • Watch products and get an email when something new is published
  • Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

No credit card · 7-day full trial

Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 3.1 LOW
AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

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

DescriptionNVD

Elasticsearch versions before 6.8.13 and 7.9.2 contain a document disclosure flaw when Document or Field Level Security is used. Search queries do not properly preserve security permissions when executing certain complex queries. This could result in the search disclosing the existence of documents the attacker should not be able to view. This could result in an attacker gaining additional insight into potentially sensitive indices.

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
1.0%
Top 41% 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 LOW
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 1.0%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9)
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
Defer
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Low

Priority Score

17
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +16
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

CVE-2014-3120 HIGH POC
8.1 Jul 28

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

CVE-2015-5531 MEDIUM POC
5.0 Aug 17

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

CVE-2015-3337 MEDIUM POC
4.3 May 01

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

CVE-2023-31419 HIGH
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
8.4 Sep 23

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

CVE-2021-22146 HIGH POC
7.5 Jul 21

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

CVE-2021-22145 MEDIUM POC
6.5 Jul 21

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

CVE-2026-72649 HIGH
8.8 Sep 01

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

CVE-2026-72642 HIGH
8.8 Aug 13

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

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy