Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate as FLS-restricted user
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DeliveryWait for full-access user to cache query results on shard
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ExploitSubmit crafted search of vulnerable query type
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ExecutionRead shared cache / observe field-match or poison results
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ImpactInfer restricted field values or degrade others' results
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V3 - Web Frontend Security Cache-Control for sensitive pages
|
| Exploitation Conditions | The attacker must be an authenticated Elasticsearch user whose access is constrained by field-level security (PR:L); FLS must therefore be configured and in use. Exploitation is limited to 'some query types' and only succeeds when a user with full access ran the identical query on the same shard recently enough that its results remain cached - a timing/cache-overlap condition the attacker does not control (AC:H). Impact is bounded: the restricted user can learn which documents match a value in an unreadable field (information disclosure) and can cause full-access users to receive incomplete results (integrity), with no availability effect. Clusters without field-level security configured, or where the targeted queries are not cached, are not exposed. |
| Impact | This is a genuinely low-priority issue whose signals are internally consistent rather than conflicting. The vendor-supplied CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N, base 4.2) describes a network-reachable but high-complexity, authenticated flaw with only partial confidentiality and integrity impact and no availability impact - matching the description, which requires an attacker who is already an authenticated Elasticsearch user constrained by field-level security (FLS). The vuln.today decision label is 'this_month', not act_now/emergency, consistent with the modest CVSS. No EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no PoC/exploit reference were supplied (the single reference is the Elastic security advisory ESA-2026-210, not exploit code), so there is no evidence of active exploitation or published tooling. The AC:H is well-grounded in the description's own gating condition - disclosure only works when a full-access user happened to run the same query on the same shard recently - so this is not a case of a high CVSS masking low real risk, nor the reverse; it is a low-severity, low-urgency cache-isolation defect that matters mainly to multi-tenant clusters relying on FLS as a security boundary. No key signals are missing in a way that changes the conclusion, though EPSS/KEV/PoC data are simply absent rather than contradictory. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | In a multi-tenant Elasticsearch cluster, a user whose access is restricted by field-level security submits a crafted search of a vulnerable query type and reads cached results that leak whether documents match a value in a field they are not permitted to read. The same cache-sharing flaw also lets that restricted user poison results so that full-access users receive incomplete search output. No public exploit or PoC was identified at time of analysis, and success depends on a full-access user having recently run the same query on the same shard. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Nov 03, 2026
Elasticsearch can leak field-level-security-protected information and return incomplete results to other users because cached query results are shared across users with different field-level security (FLS) restrictions for certain query types. Only authenticated users whose access is constrained by field-level security are able to exploit this (CVSS 4.2, AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N), and disclosure requires that a full-access user recently ran the identical query on the same shard so that its results are still cached; a restricted user can then infer which documents match a value in a field they cannot read, and can also cause full-access users to receive incomplete search results. Elastic has published a security update (ESA-2026-210) covering fixed releases in the 8.19, 9.4, 9.5 and 9.6 lines; no public exploit code or active exploitation is indicated in the available data, and the issue is assessed as low priority (vuln.today decision: this_month).
RemediationAI
Upgrade to a fixed Elasticsearch release per Elastic security advisory ESA-2026-210 (https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-8-19-24-9-4-9-9-5-6-security-update-esa-2026-210/391363), which the advisory titles as covering the 8.19.24, 9.4.9, 9.5.6 and related 9.6 maintenance releases; confirm the exact fixed version for your branch in that advisory before upgrading, since the input data does not enumerate every affected and fixed range. Because exploitation depends on cached results being shared between users with different field-level security, environments where FLS is configured should prioritize the upgrade; where upgrading must be staged, the practical exposure is reduced by ensuring that privileged and FLS-restricted users do not share shards and query patterns that populate the same cache entries, though this is a narrowing measure rather than a complete fix and requires knowing which query types are affected, which the available sources do not specify. No vendor-documented configuration toggle that disables the vulnerable caching path for the affected query types is identified in the available data, so patching remains the reliable remediation.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
The root cause is CWE-524, Use of Cache Containing Sensitive Information: Elasticsearch's query/request cache stores results keyed in a way that, for some query types, does not adequately account for the per-user field-level security restrictions applied when the query was executed. Because the cache is shard-scoped and shared, a cached entry produced by a full-access user can be served to a restricted user, and vice versa. The affected component is the search/caching layer of Elasticsearch itself (CPE cpe:2.3:a:elastic:elasticsearch), not a plugin. Two consequences follow: an information-disclosure side channel in which a restricted user learns which documents match a value in a field they cannot read, and an integrity effect in which cached results produced under restrictive FLS pollute the results returned to fully privileged users. Both effects are conditional on cache overlap: the same query must have been run on the same shard by a user with different privileges recently enough for the entry to persist. The available sources do not describe which specific query types are affected, nor the precise cache keying defect; the trigger mechanics beyond the stated cache-sharing condition are not described in the available sources. The CVSS vector's AC:H reflects the attacker not controlling whether a matching cached entry exists; PR:L reflects the requirement for an authenticated, FLS-restricted account, and FLS must be configured and in use for exposure to exist.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Network-reachable but needs an authenticated FLS-restricted user (PR:L) and an uncontrolled recent-cache condition (AC:H); limited field-match disclosure (C:L) and incomplete results (I:L), no availability impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (elastic).
CVSS VectorVendor: elastic
DescriptionCVE.org
Use of Cache Containing Sensitive Information (CWE-524) in Elasticsearch can lead to information disclosure and incorrect search results via specially crafted search requests. For some query types, Elasticsearch can share cached query results between users who have field-level security restrictions and users who do not. A user restricted by field-level security can learn which documents match a value in a field that they cannot read. A restricted user can also cause users with full access to receive incomplete search results. Disclosure is only possible when a user with full access ran the same query on the same shard recently.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
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