KibanaApplication · Elastic
CVE-2018-3821
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 · uneditedKibana versions after 5.1.1 and before 5.6.7 and 6.1.3 had a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the tag cloud visualization that could allow an attacker to obtain sensitive information from or perform destructive actions on behalf of other Kibana users.
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 confidenceKibana versions 5.1.2 through 5.6.6 and 6.0.0 through 6.1.2 contained a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the tag cloud visualization. Attackers could inject malicious JavaScript into the tag cloud that would execute in the browsers of other Kibana users viewing the same visualization, enabling session hijacking, data theft, or actions on behalf of victims.
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
KibanaApplication
> 5.1.1, < 5.6.7>= 6.0.0, < 6.1.3CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Kibana versionRun `curl -s http://localhost:5601/api/status` or check the Kibana package version with `dpkg -l kibana` (Debian) or `rpm -qi kibana` (RHEL)Affected if Version is 5.1.2 through 5.6.6 OR 6.0.0 through 6.1.2 (compare your installed version to the affected ranges)
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Identify tag cloud visualizations in useQuery the Kibana saved objects API: `curl -s http://localhost:5601/api/saved_objects/_find?type=visualization` or check for tag cloud visualizations in Kibana UI dashboardsAffected if Any saved visualization uses the tag cloud type and is accessible to untrusted users
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Verify tag cloud plugin is loadedCheck the Kibana console at /api/status or inspect the browser Network tab for successful loading of tag cloud visualization componentsAffected if The tag cloud visualization feature is enabled and functional in the Kibana instance
You are affected if your Kibana version falls within 5.1.2-5.6.6 or 6.0.0-6.1.2 AND the tag cloud visualization is available to untrusted users.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor data5.6.76.1.3
Upgrade Kibana to version 5.6.7, 6.1.3, or later to address this XSS vulnerability. If immediate upgrading is not possible, restrict access to the tag cloud visualization to trusted users only.
Fix this in Kibana
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-3821 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-3821 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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