CVE-2023-46669 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-200, indicating an exposure of sensitive information to unauthorized actors. This flaw affects Elastic Agent and Elastic Defend, components of the Elastic Stack ecosystem used for endpoint security and monitoring. Specifically, the vulnerability allows local unauthorized users to access sensitive information that should be protected. The exposure could enable an attacker with local access to impersonate an endpoint to the Elastic Stack, potentially undermining the integrity of endpoint telemetry and security data. The vulnerability is present in version 8.0.0 of these products. According to the CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N), the attack requires local access but no privileges or user interaction, and it impacts confidentiality with high severity, while integrity and availability remain unaffected. Elastic engineers discovered the issue internally, and there is no evidence of exploitation in the wild. The vulnerability does not require authentication or elevated privileges but does require local access, which limits remote exploitation. The lack of patches at the time of reporting suggests that mitigation may rely on configuration changes or restricting local access until updates are available. The exposure of sensitive information could include credentials or tokens that would allow an attacker to impersonate an endpoint, potentially leading to further lateral movement or data exfiltration within the monitored environment. This vulnerability highlights the importance of securing local access to systems running Elastic Agent and Elastic Defend, especially in environments where multiple users have access or where endpoint security data is critical for operational security.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2023-46669 could be significant in environments where Elastic Agent and Elastic Defend are deployed for endpoint security monitoring. The exposure of sensitive information to local unauthorized actors can lead to confidentiality breaches, allowing attackers to impersonate endpoints and potentially manipulate security telemetry or gain unauthorized access to network resources. This can undermine trust in security monitoring and incident response processes. Organizations in sectors with strict data protection regulations, such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, may face compliance risks if sensitive data is exposed or if attackers leverage this vulnerability for further compromise. The requirement for local access reduces the risk of remote exploitation but increases the importance of internal security controls, such as user account management, endpoint hardening, and monitoring for suspicious local activity. Additionally, the impersonation of endpoints could facilitate stealthy lateral movement or evade detection by security teams, complicating incident response efforts. Given the widespread use of Elastic Stack in European enterprises and public sector organizations, the vulnerability could affect a broad range of entities, particularly those with multi-user systems or shared environments where local access control is less stringent.

1. Restrict local access to systems running Elastic Agent and Elastic Defend to trusted and authorized personnel only. Implement strict user account controls and limit the number of users with local access. 2. Employ endpoint hardening techniques, such as disabling unnecessary local accounts, enforcing strong authentication mechanisms, and using application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized code execution. 3. Monitor local system activity for unusual behavior indicative of attempts to access sensitive Elastic Agent data or impersonate endpoints, using host-based intrusion detection systems or endpoint detection and response tools. 4. Segregate systems running Elastic Agent in secure network zones with limited physical and logical access to reduce the risk of unauthorized local access. 5. Stay informed about Elastic's security advisories and apply patches or updates promptly once available to remediate the vulnerability. 6. Consider implementing additional encryption or access controls on sensitive configuration files or credentials used by Elastic Agent to reduce the impact of local exposure. 7. Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing focusing on local privilege escalation and information disclosure risks within the environment.