Elastic App SearchApplication · Elastic
CVE-2020-7011
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 · uneditedElastic App Search versions before 7.7.0 contain a cross site scripting (XSS) flaw when displaying document URLs in the Reference UI. If the Reference UI injects a URL into a result, that URL will be rendered by the web browser. If an attacker is able to control the contents of such a field, they could execute arbitrary JavaScript in the victim�s web browser.
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 confidenceStored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Elastic App Search's Reference UI where document URLs are rendered without proper sanitization. An attacker who can control URL content inserted into documents can execute arbitrary JavaScript in victim browsers when those URLs are displayed in search results.
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
Elastic App SearchApplication
< 7.7.0CVSS 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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Identify Elastic App Search installationCheck for Elastic App Search process or service running on the host. Common paths: /usr/share/elastic-app-search, /opt/elastic-app-search, or via systemctl status app-searchAffected if Elastic App Search is not running or not installed (not affected)
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Verify installed versionRun command to check App Search version, such as: cat /opt/elastic-app-search/package.json version or check via API: curl http://localhost:3002/api/as/v1/ (requires credentials)Affected if Version is lower than 7.7.0 (affected)
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Confirm Reference UI is accessibleCheck if the Reference UI endpoint is exposed. Default path: /api/as/v1/engines/{engine_name}/search. Access via browser to see if search results display document URLsAffected if Reference UI is not in use or URLs are not displayed in search results (not affected)
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Inspect document URL fieldsQuery the search engine API to examine stored documents with URL fields: curl -X GET 'http://localhost:3002/api/as/v1/engines/{engine_name}/documents' -H 'Authorization: Bearer {api_key}'Affected if Documents contain URL fields with unsanitized or attacker-controlled content (exploitable condition present)
User is affected if Elastic App Search version is below 7.7.0 AND the Reference UI is exposing URL fields from documents that may contain unsanitized content.
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 data7.7.0
Upgrade Elastic App Search to version 7.7.0 or later. Until then, implement strict input validation and output encoding for URL fields displayed in the Reference UI.
Fix this in Elastic App Search
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-7011 — 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-2020-7011 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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