ElasticsearchDatabase / datastore · Elastic
CVE-2020-7019
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 · uneditedIn Elasticsearch before 7.9.0 and 6.8.12 a field disclosure flaw was found when running a scrolling search with Field Level Security. If a user runs the same query another more privileged user recently ran, the scrolling search can leak fields that should be hidden. This could result in an attacker gaining additional permissions against a restricted index.
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 confidenceIn Elasticsearch before 7.9.0 and 6.8.12, a field disclosure vulnerability exists when using scrolling searches with Field Level Security (FLS) enabled. If a less-privileged user runs the same scroll query that a more-privileged user recently executed, the FLS field restrictions can be bypassed, causing fields that should be hidden to be exposed in the 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
ElasticsearchDatabase / datastore
< 6.8.12>= 7.0.0, < 7.9.0CVSS 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
- 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.
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Check Elasticsearch versionRun `curl -XGET 'localhost:9200'` or use the _nodes API to retrieve the installed Elasticsearch version numberAffected if The version is less than 6.8.12, or greater than or equal to 7.0.0 but less than 7.9.0
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Identify roles with Field Level Security enabledUse the Elasticsearch Security API: `GET /_security/role` and inspect each role for the `field_level_security` setting within index permissionsAffected if Any role contains FLS restrictions defined on indices
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Check for active or recent scroll searchesReview Elasticsearch slow logs, audit logs, or application logs for queries containing the 'scroll' parameter, or query the _tasks API for running scroll tasksAffected if Scroll queries are being executed against indices protected by FLS-enabled roles
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Verify scroll context reuse potentialCheck if the scroll timeout and keep-alive settings allow scroll contexts to persist: review index-level settings and search templates using `GET /_search/template`Affected if Scroll contexts can be reused across different users, which is the default behavior for scrolling
A user is affected if their Elasticsearch version falls within the vulnerable range AND they use scrolling searches with Field Level Security enabled on any indices.
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 data6.8.127.9.0
Upgrade Elasticsearch to version 7.9.0 or later (for 7.x) or 6.8.12 or later (for 6.x) to patch the field disclosure vulnerability in scrolling searches with Field Level Security.
Fix this in Elasticsearch
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-7019 — 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-2020-7019 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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