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ElasticsearchDatabase / datastore · Elastic

CVE-2018-3826

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-09-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6.2.4 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
In Elasticsearch versions 6.0.0-beta1 to 6.2.4 a disclosure flaw was found in the _snapshot API. When the access_key and security_key parameters are set using the _snapshot API they can be exposed as plain text by users able to query the _snapshot API.

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

The _snapshot API in Elasticsearch 6.0.0-beta1 to 6.2.4 exposes cloud storage credentials (access_key and security_key) as plain text when queried by authorized users, allowing unauthorized disclosure of these sensitive authentication credentials.

MitigationUpgrade Elasticsearch to version 6.2.4 or later where this vulnerability is fixed, or restrict access to the _snapshot API through role-based access control to prevent credential exposure.

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:>= 6.0.0, <= 6.2.4= 6.0.0

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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. Check installed Elasticsearch version
    Run 'curl -XGET localhost:9200/' or check the elasticsearch service version. Look for the 'number' field in the JSON response.
    Affected if Version is 6.0.0, or between 6.0.0-beta1 and 6.2.4 inclusive (versions 6.0.0 through 6.2.4)
  2. Verify if _snapshot API is accessible
    Check if the cluster has any snapshot repositories configured by running 'curl -XGET localhost:9200/_snapshot' with administrative credentials.
    Affected if The _snapshot API returns repository data (non-empty response)
  3. Identify configured cloud storage repositories
    Review the output from _snapshot API for repositories using cloud storage backends such as AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, or Google Cloud Storage.
    Affected if Any repository with type 's3', 'azure', or 'gcs' is present in the repository list

The environment is affected if Elasticsearch version is between 6.0.0 and 6.2.4 and a cloud storage repository is configured and accessible via the _snapshot 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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 6.2.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Elasticsearch to version 6.2.4 or later where this vulnerability is fixed, or restrict access to the _snapshot API through role-based access control to prevent credential exposure.

Fix this in Elasticsearch Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,880.

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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-2018-3826 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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