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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 10 Jul 2022.
KibanaApplication · Elastic

CVE-2019-7609

CRITICAL · 10.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-03-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.6.15 / 6.6.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Kibana versions before 5.6.15 and 6.6.1 contain an arbitrary code execution flaw in the Timelion visualizer. An attacker with access to the Timelion application could send a request that will attempt to execute javascript code. This could possibly lead to an attacker executing arbitrary commands with permissions of the Kibana process on the host system.

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

Kibana versions before 5.6.15 and 6.6.1 contain an arbitrary code execution vulnerability in the Timelion visualizer. Attackers with access to the Timelion application can send specially crafted requests containing malicious JavaScript code that executes with the privileges of the Kibana process on the host system, enabling complete system compromise.

MitigationUpgrade Kibana to version 5.6.15 or later for the 5.x branch, or 6.6.1 or later for the 6.x branch. If immediate patching is not feasible, disable or restrict network access to the Timelion application until the upgrade can be completed.

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
Affected:< 5.6.15>= 6.0.0, < 6.6.1
Openshift Container PlatformApplication
Affected:= 3.11= 4.1

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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 installed Kibana version
    Query the Kibana status API at /api/status or check the package manager (dpkg -r, rpm -qi kibana) for the installed version number
    Affected if Version is less than 5.6.15, or greater than or equal to 6.0.0 but less than 6.6.1
  2. Confirm Timelion application is enabled
    Check the Kibana configuration file (kibana.yml) for timelion.enabled setting, or attempt to access the Timelion UI at /app/timelion
    Affected if Timelion is not explicitly disabled (timelion.enabled: false is not set) and the application loads successfully in the browser or responds to requests
  3. Check for custom Timelion scripts or expressions
    Inspect the .kibana index for saved objects of type timelion-sheet, or review any custom .timelion.js files in the Kibana configuration directory
    Affected if Unknown or untrusted custom JavaScript expressions are saved in Timelion sheets that could be exploited

You are affected if your Kibana version falls within 5.6.0 to 5.6.14 or 6.0.0 to 6.6.0 AND the Timelion application is enabled and accessible to users.

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 5.6.15 / 6.6.1 or later
Fixed in 5.6.156.6.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Kibana to version 5.6.15 or later for the 5.x branch, or 6.6.1 or later for the 6.x branch. If immediate patching is not feasible, disable or restrict network access to the Timelion application until the upgrade can be completed.

Recommended fix High confidence

Kibana 5.6.15 or 6.6.1 (or later stable releases)

  1. 1. Back up the current Kibana configuration, data directory, and any custom visualizations/dashboards
  2. 2. Stop the Kibana service
  3. 3. Upgrade Kibana to version 5.6.15 (if on 5.x) or 6.6.1 or later (if on 6.x) using your package manager or by installing the new version
  4. 4. Ensure the Kibana configuration file (kibana.yml) is compatible with the new version
  5. 5. Start the Kibana service
  6. 6. Verify that the Timelion plugin is functional and the service started successfully
  7. 7. Test that the vulnerability is no longer present by attempting to access Timelion functionality
Caveat Review Kibana upgrade notes for breaking changes between minor versions, particularly regarding configuration settings and plugin compatibility

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

Fix this in Kibana Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,330
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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-2019-7609 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