Improper Access Control in Elasticsearch

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

8.1 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

• CVE-2019-7611: 2.15% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 82.14 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

A permission issue was found in Elasticsearch versions before 5.6.15 and 6.6.1 when Field Level Security and Document Level Security are disabled and the aliases, shrink, or split endpoints are used . If the elasticsearch.yml file has xpack.security.dlsfls.enabled set to false, certain permission checks are skipped when users perform one of the actions mentioned above, to make existing data available under a new index/alias name. This could result in an attacker gaining additional permissions against a restricted index.

Published by the source

13 May 2022, 01:14 UTC

Last modified by the source

27 Jan 2023, 05:02 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:53 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-fj32-6v7m-57pg

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2019-7611

Advisory: Improper Access Control in Elasticsearch
IDs: CVE-2019-7611, GHSA-fj32-6v7m-57pg
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2019-7611 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:53 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.1)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch 6.6.1, 5.6.15. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch: affected < 5.6.15; >= 6.0.0, < 6.6.1; fixed in 5.6.15, 6.6.1

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-fj32-6v7m-57pg (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-fj32-6v7m-57pg lists affected ranges: Maven org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch >=0 =6.0.0 <6.6.1)

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