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ElasticsearchDatabase / datastore · Elastic

CVE-2024-12539

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.16.2 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 where improper authorization controls affected certain queries that could allow a malicious actor to circumvent Document Level Security in Elasticsearch and get access to documents that their roles would normally not allow.

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 · moderate confidence

Elasticsearch's Document Level Security (DLS) has an authorization bypass vulnerability where certain query types can circumvent role-based document access restrictions, allowing authenticated users to access documents outside their permitted scope.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied Elasticsearch security update to address the authorization bypass, then review audit logs for indicators of exploitation and verify DLS policies are functioning correctly.

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:>= 8.16.0, < 8.16.2

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. Identify installed Elasticsearch version
    Query the cluster via `curl -k -u elastic:<password> https://localhost:9200` or check through Kibana Stack Management > About. Locate the version number in the response.
    Affected if Version is 8.16.0 or 8.16.1 (falls within >= 8.16.0, < 8.16.2)
  2. Confirm Document Level Security is in use
    Review defined roles in Security > Roles (Kibana) or query the _security/role API. Identify roles that have DLS query definitions (the 'query' field) assigned to index privileges.
    Affected if One or more roles employ DLS queries to restrict document access
  3. Inspect role-based access patterns in audit logs
    Search Elasticsearch audit logs or Kibana Security dashboard for events where authenticated users accessed documents. Cross-reference with the DLS policies defined for their roles to detect any access outside permitted scopes.
    Affected if Audit logs show users accessing documents that should be filtered by their DLS constraints

Environment is affected if running Elasticsearch 8.16.0 or 8.16.1 with Document Level Security enabled and audit evidence shows role-based document restrictions being bypassed

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 8.16.2 or later
Fixed in 8.16.2
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied Elasticsearch security update to address the authorization bypass, then review audit logs for indicators of exploitation and verify DLS policies are functioning correctly.

Recommended fix High confidence

8.16.2

  1. Backup your Elasticsearch cluster data and configuration before proceeding with any upgrade
  2. Ensure your Elasticsearch cluster is healthy and all indices are in a good state before upgrading
  3. Stop the Elasticsearch cluster or individual nodes following standard upgrade procedures
  4. Upgrade Elasticsearch to version 8.16.2 or later
  5. Start the upgraded Elasticsearch cluster and verify all nodes are running
  6. Verify the cluster health status is green or yellow using the _cluster/health API
  7. Confirm Document Level Security is functioning correctly by testing role-based access controls on protected indices
  8. Monitor cluster logs for any errors or warnings related to authorization or security
Caveat Elasticsearch minor version upgrades typically require index compatibility checks; ensure all indices are compatible with version 8.16.2 and reindex if necessary before upgrading

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

Fix this in Elasticsearch Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,544.

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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-2024-12539 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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