Uncontrolled Recursion in Elasticsearch Leading to Denial of Service
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Deferred Red Hat: fix deferred
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-674.
Summary
Elasticsearch contains an uncontrolled recursion weakness (CWE-674) in how it builds and serializes geometry values produced by scripted runtime fields. Unlike geometry supplied as text, geometry built from a script's output has no nesting-depth limit. An authenticated user with read access to a single index can submit a request that defines such a field with a script producing a deeply nested structure, which recurses past the available stack and terminates the affected node. The node does not recover automatically on all deployments and may need manual intervention; CVSS 3.1 base score 6.5 (MEDIUM), Red Hat rating Moderate.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29
Description from the CNA
Uncontrolled Recursion (CWE-674) in Elasticsearch can lead to Denial of Service via a specially crafted request that causes the server to construct and process a deeply nested data structure with no bound on recursion depth. Elasticsearch contains an uncontrolled recursion weakness in how it builds and serializes geometry values produced by scripted runtime fields. Unlike geometry supplied as text, which is subject to a nesting-depth limit, geometry constructed from a script's output is not bounded. An authenticated user with read access to a single index can submit a request defining such a field with a script that produces a deeply nested structure. Processing this request recurses past the available stack space, causing the affected node to terminate. The node does not recover automatically on all deployments and may require manual intervention to restore service.
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 | 8.12.0 – 8.19.22; 9.0.0 – 9.4.7; 9.5.0 – 9.5.4 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- Elasticsearch VendorElastic Affected 8.12.0 – 8.19.22; 9.0.0 – 9.4.7; 9.5.0 – 9.5.4 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:elastic:elasticsearch:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 8.12.0 to before 8.19.23; 9.0.0 to before 9.4.8; 9.5.0 to before 9.5.5 | Vulnerable | Elastic |
- cpe:2.3:a:elastic:elasticsearch:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 8.12.0 to before 8.19.23; 9.0.0 to before 9.4.8; 9.5.0 to before 9.5.5 Vulnerable ·Elastic
Remediation
No fixed version is listed for Elasticsearch 8.12.0 through 8.19.22, 9.0.0 through 9.4.7, or 9.5.0 through 9.5.4. Red Hat lists no available plan for Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI).
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Quay 3
Timeline
- 2026-10-06 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-103008
- 2026-10-07 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-07 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-07 Alias added: GHSA-j6cv-2j5r-6m5f
- 2026-10-07 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-07 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-08 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
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-2026-103008 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-103008 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-j6cv-2j5r-6m5f · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-103008 · 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