Sensitive information in log files in Elasticsearch
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Information disclosure
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-532.
Summary
An issue was discovered by Elastic whereby Watcher search input logged the search query results on DEBUG log level. This could lead to raw contents of documents stored in Elasticsearch to be printed in logs. Elastic has released 8.11.2 and 7.17.16 that resolves this issue by removing this excessive logging. This issue only affects users that use Watcher and have a Watch defined that uses the search input and additionally have set the search input’s logger to DEBUG or finer, for example using: org.elasticsearch.xpack.watcher.input.search, org.elasticsearch.xpack.watcher.input, org.elasticsearch.xpack.watcher, or wider, since the loggers are hierarchical.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elastic | Elasticsearch | 7.0.0 to before 7.17.16; 8.0.0 to before 8.11.2 | 7.17.16, 8.11.2 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (Maven) | before 7.17.16 | 7.17.16 | Patch available | GHSA-2hjr-vmf3-xwvp |
| — | org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (Maven) | 8.0.0 to before 8.11.2 | 8.11.2 | Patch available | GHSA-2hjr-vmf3-xwvp |
- Elasticsearch VendorElastic Affected 7.0.0 to before 7.17.16; 8.0.0 to before 8.11.2 Fixed in 7.17.16, 8.11.2 Patch available CNA
- org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (Maven) Vendor— Affected before 7.17.16 Fixed in 7.17.16 Patch available GHSA-2hjr-vmf3-xwvp
- org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (Maven) Vendor— Affected 8.0.0 to before 8.11.2 Fixed in 8.11.2 Patch available GHSA-2hjr-vmf3-xwvp
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Elasticsearch (Elastic) Fixed in 7.17.16, 8.11.2
- Fix · GHSA-2hjr-vmf3-xwvp org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (Maven) Fixed in 7.17.16 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-2hjr-vmf3-xwvp org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (Maven) Fixed in 8.11.2 Advisory →
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 4 products
- Logging Subsystem for Red Hat OpenShift
- Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.1
- Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.2
- Red Hat Quay 3
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-49921
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-2hjr-vmf3-xwvp
References
More Elasticsearch vulnerabilities
- TI-2015-01295 The Groovy scripting engine in Elasticsearch before 1.3.8 and 1.4.x before 1.4.3 allows… KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2014-02491 The default configuration in Elasticsearch before 1.2 enables dynamic scripting, which… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.1
- TI-2023-15037 Elasticsearch StackOverflow vulnerability CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2021-05135 Information disclosure in Elasticsearch CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.5
- TI-2021-05136 All versions of Elastic Cloud Enterprise has the Elasticsearch “anonymous” user enabled… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2015-04530 Elasticsearch before 1.6.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via… CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2023-49921 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-49921 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-2hjr-vmf3-xwvp · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2023-49921 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences