dbcve.org
KibanaApplication · Elastic

CVE-2023-46671

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.11.1 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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 was discovered by Elastic whereby sensitive information may be recorded in Kibana logs in the event of an error. Elastic has released Kibana 8.11.1 which resolves this issue. The error message recorded in the log may contain account credentials for the kibana_system user, API Keys, and credentials of Kibana end-users. The issue occurs infrequently, only if an error is returned from an Elasticsearch cluster, in cases where there is user interaction and an unhealthy cluster (for example, when returning circuit breaker or no shard exceptions).

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

Kibana logs error messages that may contain sensitive credentials (kibana_system user credentials, API Keys, and end-user credentials) when Elasticsearch returns errors during user interaction with an unhealthy cluster, such as circuit breaker or no shard exceptions.

MitigationUpgrade Kibana to version 8.11.1 or later to prevent sensitive credentials from being recorded in logs.

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
KibanaApplication
Affected:>= 8.0.0, < 8.11.1

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check Kibana version
    Run 'kibana --version' or check the version file in the Kibana installation directory, or query the Kibana API at /api/status
    Affected if The installed version is 8.0.0 or higher but lower than 8.11.1
  2. Verify Kibana logging is enabled
    Check the Kibana configuration file (kibana.yml) for logging settings, particularly 'logging.dest' and 'logging.verbose' settings
    Affected if Logging is enabled (default behavior) - Kibana logs to stdout or a file by default
  3. Search Kibana logs for credential leakage
    Examine Kibana log files for error messages containing the string 'kibana_system' or patterns matching API keys or authentication tokens in error contexts related to circuit breaker or shard exceptions
    Affected if Log entries contain sensitive credentials (kibana_system password, API keys, or user credentials) embedded in error messages about cluster health issues

You are affected if Kibana version is between 8.0.0 and 8.11.1 and sensitive credentials appear in logs during Elasticsearch cluster error conditions.

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 8.11.1 or later
Fixed in 8.11.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Kibana to version 8.11.1 or later to prevent sensitive credentials from being recorded in logs.

Recommended fix High confidence

Kibana 8.11.1

  1. Back up your existing Kibana installation, configuration files, and data directory
  2. Stop the Kibana service
  3. Download Kibana version 8.11.1 from the official Elastic download page
  4. Extract or install the new Kibana 8.11.1 version
  5. Review and migrate any custom configurations from the previous version to the new installation
  6. Start the Kibana service
  7. Verify that Kibana 8.11.1 is running and functioning correctly
  8. Monitor logs to confirm no sensitive credentials are being recorded in error messages
Caveat Standard minor version upgrade; review Elastic's 8.11 release notes for any minor behavior changes

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

Fix this in Kibana Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

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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-2023-46671 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