CVE-2019-13416
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 · uneditedSearch Guard versions before 24.3 had an issue when Cross Cluster Search (CCS) was enabled, authenticated users are always authorized on the local cluster ignoring their roles on the remote cluster(s).
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 · moderate confidenceIn Search Guard versions before 24.3, when Cross Cluster Search (CCS) is enabled, authenticated users are always authorized based only on their local cluster roles, completely ignoring their assigned roles on remote clusters. This authorization bypass allows users to potentially access data on remote clusters beyond what their roles on those clusters would permit.
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< 24.3CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify Search Guard versionCheck the installed Search Guard plugin version in your Elasticsearch deployment. This is typically visible in the Elasticsearch plugins directory or via the Search Guard admin API. Compare the version number to the affected range (versions before 24.3).Affected if The installed Search Guard version is lower than 24.3.
-
Confirm Cross Cluster Search is enabledExamine your Search Guard and Elasticsearch configuration files to determine whether Cross Cluster Search (CCS) is configured and active. Look for cross-cluster settings in elasticsearch.yml and the Search Guard configuration.Affected if Cross Cluster Search (CCS) is enabled and operational in your environment.
-
Verify cross-cluster role mapping configurationReview the Search Guard role mapping configuration (typically in sg_roles_mapping.yml or equivalent) to check if any users or groups are mapped to roles across multiple clusters. Specifically look for mappings that span local and remote clusters.Affected if Users or groups have cross-cluster role mappings configured in Search Guard.
-
Test authorization behavior across clustersIf you have access to both local and remote clusters, perform a cross-cluster search as a test user and verify whether the results reflect the roles from the remote cluster or only the local cluster roles.Affected if Users can access data on remote clusters using only their local cluster permissions, bypassing remote cluster role restrictions.
You are affected if Search Guard version is below 24.3 AND Cross Cluster Search is enabled, allowing users to potentially access remote cluster data beyond their intended remote cluster permissions.
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 data24.3
Upgrade Search Guard to version 24.3 or later to ensure proper cross-cluster role mapping and authorization enforcement.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,928.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-13416 — 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-2019-13416 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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