VulnerabilityPublished 19 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-26939: Elastic Kibana · Missing Authorization

Affects Elastic KibanaSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium.

Data as of 1 Nov 2026, 08:20 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 9% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: High
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 19 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 31 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
ElasticKibana	Affected >=9.0.0 <=9.2.5 >=9.3.0 <=9.3.0 >=8.0.0 <=8.19.11	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-26939, organizations should first verify and restrict the assignment of detection rule management privileges to only trusted and necessary personnel, minimizing the attack surface. Implement strict role-based access controls (RBAC) within Kibana to ensure that only authorized users can configure endpoint response actions. Monitor and audit all changes to detection rules and endpoint response configurations to detect unauthorized modifications promptly. Until an official patch is released, consider isolating Kibana management interfaces behind strong network controls such as VPNs or zero-trust network access to limit exposure. Employ multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users with elevated privileges to reduce the risk of credential compromise. Additionally, review and harden endpoint security policies to detect and alert on unusual host isolation or process termination events that could indicate exploitation attempts. Stay informed on Elastic’s security advisories for updates and apply patches immediately once available. Finally, conduct regular security training for administrators on the risks of privilege misuse and the importance of secure configuration management.

Description

Missing Authorization (CWE-862) in Kibana’s server-side Detection Rule Management can lead to Unauthorized Endpoint Response Action Configuration (host isolation, process termination, and process suspension) via CAPEC-1 (Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs). This requires an authenticated attacker with rule management privileges.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-26939 is on the integrity of endpoint response actions managed through Kibana. Unauthorized configuration of host isolation, process termination, or suspension can disrupt normal endpoint operations, potentially causing denial of service to critical applications or isolating hosts unnecessarily. This could lead to operational disruptions, loss of trust in security monitoring systems, and increased risk of lateral movement or persistence by attackers if endpoint containment actions are improperly manipulated. Organizations relying on Kibana for security orchestration and automated response are at risk of having their response mechanisms subverted by attackers with rule management privileges. While confidentiality and availability impacts are limited, the integrity compromise can have cascading effects on incident response effectiveness and overall security posture. The vulnerability also raises concerns about insider threats and privilege misuse. Given Kibana’s widespread use in enterprise environments, the potential impact is global, affecting sectors such as finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure where endpoint security is paramount.

CWE-862Missing Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #4OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Exploitation of Thunderbolt Protection Flaws (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-8-19-12-9-2-6-9-3-1-security-update-esa-2026-19/385530 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 19 Mar 2026, 17:54 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-862

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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