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Elastic Cloud On KubernetesApplication · Elastic

CVE-2023-31416

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.8 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Secret token configuration is never applied when using ECK <2.8 with APM Server >=8.0. This could lead to anonymous requests to an APM Server being accepted and the data ingested into this APM deployment.

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

When using ECK (Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes) versions prior to 2.8 with APM Server versions 8.0 and above, the secret token configuration intended to secure the APM Server is never applied. This allows anonymous, unauthenticated requests to be accepted by the APM Server, resulting in unauthorized data ingestion.

MitigationUpgrade ECK to version 2.8 or later to ensure secret token configuration is properly applied to APM Server >=8.0, or implement alternative authentication mechanisms until the upgrade is 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
Elastic Cloud On KubernetesApplication
Affected:< 2.8

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify ECK operator version
    Run 'kubectl get pods -n elastic-system -l control-plane=elastic-operator -o jsonpath={.items[*].spec.containers[*].image}' to get the ECK operator image, then check the tag for the version number
    Affected if The version is earlier than 2.8 (e.g., 2.7.x, 2.6.x, etc.)
  2. Find APM Server deployments managed by ECK
    Run 'kubectl get apmservers -A -o custom-columns=NAMESPACE:.metadata.namespace,NAME:.metadata.name,VERSION:.spec.version' to list all APM Server resources created via ECK
    Affected if Any APM Server resource shows version 8.0 or higher (such as 8.0.0, 8.5.0, 8.10.0, etc.)
  3. Check if secret token is configured in the APM Server resource
    Run 'kubectl get apmservers -A -o jsonpath={.items[*].spec.secretToken}' to retrieve the configured secret token value
    Affected if A secret token value is present (non-empty string) but ECK version is below 2.8 and APM Server is version 8.0+
  4. Test for unauthenticated access to APM Server
    Identify the APM Server service with 'kubectl get svc -A | grep apm' and send a request without the secret token header (e.g., 'curl -k https://<apm-service>:8200/intake/v2/events -d @- < /dev/null')
    Affected if The request succeeds and returns an acceptance response (HTTP 202) rather than a 401/403 authentication error, indicating the secret token is not being enforced

You are affected if your ECK operator version is below 2.8 AND you have APM Server version 8.0 or higher deployed through ECK, with a secret token configured that is not being enforced, allowing unauthenticated access to the APM intake endpoint.

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 2.8 or later
Fixed in 2.8
Interim mitigation

Upgrade ECK to version 2.8 or later to ensure secret token configuration is properly applied to APM Server >=8.0, or implement alternative authentication mechanisms until the upgrade is completed.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

ECK 2.8 or later

  1. Upgrade Elastic Cloud On Kubernetes (ECK) to version 2.8 or later
  2. After upgrading, redeploy any APM Server instances to ensure the secret token configuration is properly applied
  3. Verify that the APM Server secret token is now being enforced by checking the configuration
  4. If concerned about potential unauthorized data ingestion, consider rotating any sensitive tokens that may have been exposed
Caveat Review the ECK 2.8 release notes for any breaking changes before upgrading

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

Fix this in Elastic Cloud On Kubernetes Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,780
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,848.

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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-2023-31416 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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