KibanaApplication · Elastic
CVE-2026-49095
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 · uneditedImproper Input Validation (CWE-20) in the Kibana Fleet agent policy management feature can lead to privilege escalation. An authenticated user with Fleet management privileges can manipulate agent policy configuration by injecting values into a configuration override mechanism that is not adequately validated. An attacker can cause Elastic Agents to be issued API keys with elevated Elasticsearch privileges, potentially granting unauthorized read and write access to sensitive Elasticsearch security indices beyond what is intended for the Fleet management role.
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 confidenceImproper input validation in Kibana's Fleet agent policy management allows authenticated users with Fleet management privileges to inject values into a configuration override mechanism. This enables manipulation of agent policy configurations to cause Elastic Agents to receive API keys with elevated Elasticsearch privileges, granting unauthorized read/write access to sensitive security indices.
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
>= 8.0.0, < 8.19.16>= 9.0.0, < 9.3.5>= 9.4.0, < 9.4.2CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Kibana versionCheck the installed Kibana version by querying the Kibana status endpoint, checking the Kibana package/version file, or reviewing the Elastic Stack deployment documentationAffected if The installed version falls within the affected ranges: >= 8.0.0 and < 8.19.16, or >= 9.0.0 and < 9.3.5, or >= 9.4.0 and < 9.4.2
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Confirm Fleet plugin is enabledVerify that the Fleet plugin is enabled in Kibana by checking the Kibana plugins list or Fleet-specific API endpoints such as /api/fleet/statusAffected if Fleet is enabled and running in the Kibana instance
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Review Fleet management role assignmentsIdentify users or service accounts granted Fleet management privileges by querying the Kibana security API or reviewing role definitions that include Fleet permissionsAffected if There are users assigned to roles with Fleet management or agent policy write permissions, particularly users who should not have elevated privileges
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Inspect agent policies for configuration overridesRetrieve all agent policies via the Fleet API (GET /api/fleet/agent_policies) and review each policy's configuration for any override entries, especially those related to output settings, api_key settings, or privileged Elasticsearch actionsAffected if Any agent policy contains configuration override values that grant elevated Elasticsearch privileges, api_key configurations with elevated permissions, or modifications to security-related settings that were not explicitly defined by authorized administrators
A user is affected if they run a vulnerable Kibana version with Fleet enabled and have users with Fleet management privileges, particularly if any agent policies contain suspicious configuration overrides granting elevated Elasticsearch API key permissions.
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 · scoped8.19.169.3.59.4.2
Implement strict input validation on Fleet agent policy configuration overrides and enforce proper privilege scoping during API key generation to ensure Elastic Agents only receive the minimum privileges required for their intended role.
8.19.16 (for 8.x branches), 9.3.5 (for 9.0-9.3.x branches), or 9.4.2 (for 9.4.x branch)
- Identify your current Kibana version from the KibanaAbout page or kibana.yml
- For Kibana 8.x (versions >=8.0.0 and <8.19.16): Upgrade Kibana to version 8.19.16 or later
- For Kibana 9.0.x-9.3.x (versions >=9.0.0 and <9.3.5): Upgrade Kibana to version 9.3.5 or later
- For Kibana 9.4.x (versions >=9.4.0 and <9.4.2): Upgrade Kibana to version 9.4.2 or later
- After upgrade, verify Fleet agent policy configurations to ensure no unauthorized API key grants exist
- Test the upgrade in a non-production environment before deploying to production
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Kibana
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-49095 — 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-2026-49095 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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