CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2023-46669NVD status: Analyzed

Elastic Agent and Elastic Defend: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2023-46669 is a high-severity exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor vulnerability in Elastic Agent and Elastic Defend from Elastic, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.1 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists version 8.15.0 as the first without the flaw, so updating Elastic Agent and Elastic Defend to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.2% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update Elastic Agent and Elastic Defend to 8.15.0 or a later version.
  2. Update Elastic Agent to 8.15.0 or a later version.
  3. Update Endpoint Security to 8.15.0 or a later version.
  4. Read the advisory on discuss.elastic.co for workarounds and exact fixed builds.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
ElasticElastic Agent and Elastic Defend8.0.0 up to, but not including, 8.15.08.15.0
ElasticElastic Agentbefore 8.15.08.15.0
ElasticEndpoint Securitybefore 8.15.08.15.0

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
LowA basic user account is enough.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
NoneAvailability is not affected.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N. Scored by NVD.

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 3.16.2MediumCNA (elastic.co)
CVSS 3.17.1HighNVD

Official description

Exposure of sensitive information to local unauthorized actors in Elastic Agent and Elastic Security Endpoint can lead to loss of confidentiality and impersonation of Endpoint to the Elastic Stack. This issue was identified by Elastic engineers and Elastic has no indication that it is known or has been exploited by malicious actors.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Compartmentalize the system to have safe areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.

More Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerabilities (CWE-200)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerabilities

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