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ElasticsearchDatabase / datastore · Elastic

CVE-2023-31418

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 8.8.2 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An issue has been identified with how Elasticsearch handled incoming requests on the HTTP layer. An unauthenticated user could force an Elasticsearch node to exit with an OutOfMemory error by sending a moderate number of malformed HTTP requests. The issue was identified by Elastic Engineering and we have no indication that the issue is known or that it is being exploited in the wild.

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

Elasticsearch versions prior to the fix contained a vulnerability in its HTTP layer where malformed HTTP requests could trigger excessive memory consumption, causing the node to crash with an OutOfMemory error. An unauthenticated attacker can remotely exploit this by sending a moderate number of crafted requests, leading to denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade Elasticsearch to the version containing the vendor patch. If immediate patching is not possible, consider network-level filtering to limit exposure of the HTTP interface to untrusted users.

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
Affected:<= 7.17.12>= 8.0.0, <= 8.8.2
Elastic Cloud EnterpriseApplication
Affected:<= 2.13.3= 3.6.0

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
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 the Elasticsearch product variant
    Run 'elasticsearch --version' or check the installed package name. For Elastic Cloud Enterprise, check the ECE version via the admin console or 'ece version' command.
    Affected if The product is Elasticsearch or Elastic Cloud Enterprise and the HTTP interface is accessible
  2. Determine the installed Elasticsearch version
    Run 'curl -s http://localhost:9200/' to query the cluster info, or check the version from the elasticsearch binary with 'elasticsearch --version', or examine the installed package version via system package manager.
    Affected if The version is <= 7.17.12 OR (>= 8.0.0 AND <= 8.8.2)
  3. Determine the installed Elastic Cloud Enterprise version
    Check the ECE version through the administration console or by running 'ece version' if CLI is available.
    Affected if The version is <= 2.13.3 OR version equals 3.6.0
  4. Verify HTTP interface exposure
    Check network configuration to determine if the Elasticsearch HTTP port (default 9200) or proxy ports are exposed to untrusted networks. Review load balancer, firewall, or cloud security group rules.
    Affected if The HTTP interface is reachable from untrusted network segments (public internet or unauthorized internal networks)

A user is affected if they run a vulnerable Elasticsearch or Elastic Cloud Enterprise version AND have the HTTP interface exposed to untrusted users, allowing unauthenticated attackers to send malformed HTTP requests.

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 a release after 8.8.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Elasticsearch to the version containing the vendor patch. If immediate patching is not possible, consider network-level filtering to limit exposure of the HTTP interface to untrusted users.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Elasticsearch 7.17.13+/8.9.0+ or Elastic Cloud Enterprise 2.13.4+/3.6.1+

  1. Backup your Elasticsearch cluster data and configuration before upgrading
  2. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment first
  3. For Elasticsearch: Upgrade to version 7.17.13 or later, or 8.9.0 or later
  4. For Elastic Cloud Enterprise: Upgrade to version 2.13.4 or later, or 3.6.1 or later
  5. Verify the upgrade was successful and the service is running properly
  6. Monitor system resources to confirm the OOM vulnerability is resolved
Caveat Review Elastic's upgrade guides for potential breaking changes between your current version and the target version

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

Fix this in Elasticsearch Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

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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-2023-31418 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