Enterprise SearchApplication · Elastic
CVE-2021-22148
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 Enterprise Search App Search versions before 7.14.0 was vulnerable to an issue where API keys were not bound to the same engines as their creator. This could lead to a less privileged user gaining access to unauthorized engines.
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 confidenceElastic Enterprise Search App Search versions before 7.14.0 contained an authorization flaw where API keys were not properly bound to the same engines as their creator. This allowed a less privileged user to potentially access engines they were not authorized to access by using API keys.
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
Enterprise SearchApplication
< 7.14.0CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Elastic Enterprise Search is installedIdentify if Elastic Enterprise Search is running in your environment. This is typically deployed as a standalone service or as part of an Elastic Stack deployment.Affected if Elastic Enterprise Search is present in the environment
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Determine the installed versionCheck the running version of Elastic Enterprise Search. This can usually be found in the service health endpoint, management UI, or by querying the Enterprise Search health API.Affected if The version is any release prior to 7.14.0 (for example, 7.13.x, 7.12.x, etc.)
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Verify App Search is enabledConfirm that the App Search feature within Elastic Enterprise Search is actively configured and running. This vulnerability specifically affects the App Search component.Affected if App Search is enabled and operational in the deployment
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Inspect API key configuration in App SearchIf App Search is enabled and the version is vulnerable, review the API keys created within App Search. Check whether keys were created and whether they may have been shared or assigned access beyond the intended engine boundaries.Affected if API keys exist in App Search and the version is below 7.14.0, indicating potential for unauthorized engine access
The environment is affected if Elastic Enterprise Search with App Search is running at any version prior to 7.14.0.
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.
dbcve · scoped7.14.0
Upgrade Elastic Enterprise Search to version 7.14.0 or later to ensure API keys are properly bound to their creator's engine permissions.
7.14.0
- Backup all Enterprise Search data and configuration before starting the upgrade
- Review the Elastic Stack upgrade guide at https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elastic-stack/current/upgrading-elastic-stack.html
- Test the upgrade in a staging environment before applying to production
- Stop the Elastic Enterprise Search service
- Upgrade Elasticsearch and Kibana to version 7.14.0 or later (Enterprise Search requires matching Elasticsearch version)
- Upgrade Enterprise Search to version 7.14.0 or later
- Restart all services and verify they start correctly
- Log in to the Enterprise Search UI and verify API keys are now properly bound to their creator's engines
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Enterprise Search
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-22148 — 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-2021-22148 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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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