Kibana: Observable Discrepancy
CVE-2026-72632 is a high-severity observable discrepancy vulnerability in Kibana from Elastic, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.1 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. Affected Kibana versions: 8.19.0 through 8.19.19; 9.0.0 through 9.4.4; 9.5.0. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.35% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of Kibana you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Read the advisory on discuss.elastic.co for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elastic | Kibana | 8.19.0 through 8.19.19; 9.0.0 through 9.4.4; 9.5.0 | Not stated |
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
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- 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
- LowLimited modification of data is possible.
- Availability
- NoneAvailability is not affected.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N. Scored by CNA (elastic.co).
Official description
Observable Discrepancy (CWE-203) in Kibana Fleet can lead to information disclosure via Excavation (CAPEC-116). Fleet removes the Elasticsearch API key value of an enrolled Elastic Agent from the responses of its agent listing capability, but that capability accepted caller-supplied filter expressions over the stored field that holds the value, and evaluated them with Kibana's own internal Elasticsearch privileges rather than the caller's. Because the number of matching agents is reported back to the caller, the difference between a matching and a non-matching filter formed a side channel from which the full API key value could be reconstructed one character at a time with a short sequence of requests.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Observable Discrepancy
The product behaves differently or sends different responses under different circumstances in a way that is observable to an unauthorized actor.
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.
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other vulnerabilities in Kibana
- 7.3 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 7.3 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
- 7.3 High severity
Recent Observable Discrepancy vulnerabilities
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
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