CVE-2025-68387 is a Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability classified under CWE-79 that affects Elastic's Kibana product versions 7.0.0, 8.0.0, 9.0.0, and 9.2.0. The flaw stems from improper neutralization of user input during web page generation within the Vega AST evaluator's function handler. This vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code into web content served by Kibana. When a victim user interacts with the vulnerable interface, the malicious script executes in their browser context, potentially enabling theft of session cookies, manipulation of displayed data, or execution of unauthorized actions within the Kibana session. The vulnerability does not require authentication but does require user interaction, such as clicking a crafted link or viewing a malicious dashboard. The CVSS v3.1 score of 6.1 (medium severity) reflects network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, but user interaction is necessary, and impacts confidentiality and integrity with no availability impact. No public exploits have been reported yet, but the vulnerability poses a risk to organizations relying on Kibana for monitoring and visualization of critical data. The Vega AST evaluator is a component used for rendering complex visualizations, and improper input handling here can lead to injection of malicious scripts. Elastic has published the vulnerability details but no patch links are currently available, indicating that remediation may be pending or in progress.

For European organizations, this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information such as session tokens or user credentials, enabling attackers to hijack sessions or escalate privileges within Kibana. Integrity of displayed data could be compromised, misleading analysts or decision-makers relying on Kibana dashboards. Although availability is not directly impacted, the trustworthiness of monitoring and logging data could be undermined. Organizations in sectors like finance, government, energy, and telecommunications that use Kibana extensively for operational intelligence are at higher risk. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to conduct targeted phishing or spear-phishing campaigns by embedding malicious scripts in shared dashboards or reports. The unauthenticated nature of the vulnerability increases the attack surface, especially for Kibana instances exposed to the internet or accessible by multiple users. The requirement for user interaction means social engineering or insider threat vectors could facilitate exploitation. Overall, the vulnerability could degrade security posture, cause data leakage, and impact compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR if personal or sensitive data is exposed.

European organizations should prioritize the following mitigations: 1) Monitor Elastic's official channels for patches addressing CVE-2025-68387 and apply them promptly once available. 2) Restrict access to Kibana interfaces to trusted internal networks or VPNs, minimizing exposure to unauthenticated external users. 3) Implement strict Content Security Policies (CSP) to limit execution of unauthorized scripts within Kibana web pages. 4) Conduct thorough input validation and sanitization on any user-supplied data that may be rendered in Kibana dashboards or visualizations, especially those using Vega AST components. 5) Educate users on the risks of interacting with untrusted links or dashboards to reduce the likelihood of successful social engineering. 6) Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules targeting XSS attack patterns to detect and block malicious payloads. 7) Review and audit Kibana usage logs to detect anomalous access or suspicious dashboard modifications. 8) Consider deploying multi-factor authentication (MFA) for Kibana access to reduce impact if session tokens are compromised. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on network segmentation, CSP enforcement, and user awareness tailored to the specific Vega AST vector.