ElasticsearchDatabase / datastore · Elastic
CVE-2026-49090
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 · uneditedUncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) in Elasticsearch can lead to a denial of service via Excessive Allocation (CAPEC-130). An authenticated user can submit a specially crafted bulk request that causes sustained high CPU consumption, which can render the affected node unable to process requests.
In the news
Third-party coverageSurfaced from public web coverage — external links open in a new tab.
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 confidenceAn authenticated Elasticsearch user can submit a specially crafted bulk request that causes sustained high CPU consumption, leading to denial of service. The vulnerability stems from uncontrolled resource consumption (CWE-400) in the bulk request processing, where certain query patterns trigger excessive allocation of CPU resources on the affected node.
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
>= 7.0.0, < 7.17.24>= 8.0.0, < 8.15.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Elasticsearch versionRun `curl -XGET 'localhost:9200/'` or check the version file in the Elasticsearch installation directory (e.g., `/usr/share/elasticsearch/lib/elasticsearch-*.jar` or the version via `bin/elasticsearch --version`)Affected if The version number is 7.0.0 through 7.17.23, or 8.0.0 through 8.14.x (any version below 7.17.24 or 8.15.0)
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Confirm bulk API is accessibleVerify the bulk API endpoint is available by running `curl -XGET 'localhost:9200/_bulk'` (note: a POST request to this endpoint with documents would be the actual attack vector)Affected if The bulk API responds, indicating it is enabled and accessible (this is enabled by default in standard Elasticsearch installations)
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Check if authentication is enforcedReview Elasticsearch security settings via `GET /_security` or check `xpack.security.enabled` in `elasticsearch.yml`Affected if Anonymous or unauthenticated access to the bulk API is permitted (the CVE requires an authenticated user, so lack of authentication actually changes the severity but the vulnerability still exists in the code)
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Monitor baseline CPU usage patternsUse `GET /_nodes/stats` or system tools like `top`, `htop`, or `vmstat` to establish baseline CPU consumption on Elasticsearch nodesAffected if Sustained high CPU consumption is observed on nodes processing bulk requests, which could indicate exploitation of this resource consumption issue
Your environment is affected if Elasticsearch version is 7.0.0 to 7.17.23 or 8.0.0 to 8.14.x AND the bulk API is accessible to authenticated users.
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 · scoped7.17.248.15.0
Apply available Elasticsearch patches/updates. Implement rate limiting and resource quotas for bulk API endpoints. Consider network-level segmentation to limit which authenticated users can access bulk operations.
Elasticsearch 7.17.24+ (for 7.x) or Elasticsearch 8.15.0+ (for 8.x)
- Determine your current Elasticsearch major version (7.x or 8.x) by checking the cluster health or node version
- For Elasticsearch 7.x deployments: Upgrade to version 7.17.24 or later (preferably the latest 7.17.x release)
- For Elasticsearch 8.x deployments: Upgrade to version 8.15.0 or later (preferably the latest 8.x release)
- Before upgrading, take a snapshot of your cluster data to ensure rollback capability
- Follow the standard Elasticsearch upgrade procedure: shut down nodes, replace the installation, and restart cluster nodes
- After upgrade, verify the cluster status is green and nodes are processing requests normally
- Test that bulk request functionality works correctly with the upgraded version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Elasticsearch
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,968.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-49090 — 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-2026-49090 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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