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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 15 Apr 2022.
ElasticsearchDatabase / datastore · Elastic

CVE-2014-3120

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2014-07-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.2.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The default configuration in Elasticsearch before 1.2 enables dynamic scripting, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary MVEL expressions and Java code via the source parameter to _search. NOTE: this only violates the vendor's intended security policy if the user does not run Elasticsearch in its own independent virtual machine.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Elasticsearch before version 1.2 ships with dynamic scripting enabled by default, allowing remote attackers to inject and execute arbitrary MVEL expressions and Java code through the source parameter in the _search API endpoint, leading to complete system compromise.

MitigationDisable dynamic scripting by setting script.disable_dynamic: true in elasticsearch.yml or upgrade to Elasticsearch 1.2 or later where dynamic scripting is disabled by default.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
ElasticsearchDatabase / datastore
Affected:< 1.2.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Elasticsearch version
    Run `curl -XGET 'localhost:9200/'` or check the elasticsearch service version banner at startup
    Affected if Version is below 1.2.0
  2. Locate elasticsearch.yml configuration
    Find the elasticsearch.yml file in the config directory (typically /etc/elasticsearch/ or in the ES_HOME/conf/ directory)
    Affected if File exists and is readable
  3. Check dynamic scripting setting
    Inspect elasticsearch.yml for the line `script.disable_dynamic` - if it is absent, not set to true, or set to false, dynamic scripting is enabled
    Affected if `script.disable_dynamic` is missing or set to false
  4. Verify _search API accessibility
    Attempt a curl request to `http://localhost:9200/_search` or the public endpoint if exposed - the vulnerability is exploitable if this API accepts requests without authentication
    Affected if The _search API is accessible without authentication and dynamic scripting is enabled
  5. Confirm MVEL/script execution is possible
    Send a test query with a script expression to the _search source parameter (e.g., `{"query":{"match_all":{}}, "script_fields":{"test":{"script":"System.exit(1)"}}}`) - if the script executes, dynamic scripting is active
    Affected if The script parameter in _search API executes arbitrary code

You are affected if Elasticsearch version is prior to 1.2.0 AND dynamic scripting (script.disable_dynamic) is not set to true in elasticsearch.yml, allowing unauthenticated execution of scripts via the _search API.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.2.0 or later
Fixed in 1.2.0
Interim mitigation

Disable dynamic scripting by setting script.disable_dynamic: true in elasticsearch.yml or upgrade to Elasticsearch 1.2 or later where dynamic scripting is disabled by default.

Recommended fix High confidence

Elasticsearch 1.2.0 minimum, preferably latest stable 7.x release

  1. Upgrade Elasticsearch to version 1.2.0 or later (preferably latest stable 7.x branch for full security coverage)
  2. After upgrade, verify dynamic scripting is disabled by default in elasticsearch.yml with `script.disable_dynamic: true`
  3. If upgrading is not immediately possible, add `script.disable_dynamic: true` to elasticsearch.yml configuration file on all nodes
  4. Restart Elasticsearch services after configuration changes
  5. Test that the _search API with source parameter no longer executes arbitrary code
Caveat Dynamic scripting is disabled by default in 1.2.0; any custom scripts relying on dynamic MVEL execution will need to be converted to stored scripts or sandboxed languages

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Elasticsearch Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-3120 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data