CVE-2026-63263: CWE-400 Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in Elastic Elasticsearch
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) in Elasticsearch can lead to denial of service via Exponential Data Expansion (CAPEC-197). An authenticated user may submit a specially crafted query to the ES|QL engine that causes exponential CPU consumption during query evaluation. Because the resource exhaustion persists beyond query completion, repeated requests can fully exhaust the available query worker resources, rendering ES|QL queries unavailable until the node is restarted.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This vulnerability (CVE-2026-63263) in Elasticsearch involves uncontrolled resource consumption (CWE-400) through exponential data expansion (CAPEC-197) triggered by maliciously crafted queries submitted by authenticated users to the ES|QL engine. The exponential CPU consumption persists beyond query completion, causing exhaustion of query worker resources and resulting in denial of service until the affected node is restarted. The vulnerability affects Elasticsearch versions 8.0.0, 9.0.0, and 9.4.0. There is no vendor advisory or patch available at this time.
Potential Impact
An attacker with authentication privileges can submit queries that cause exponential CPU consumption, leading to denial of service by exhausting query worker resources. This results in ES|QL queries becoming unavailable until the node is restarted, impacting availability but not confidentiality or integrity.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until a fix is available, monitor for unusual query patterns and consider restricting access to ES|QL query capabilities to trusted users only. Restarting the affected node restores service availability after exhaustion occurs.
CVE-2026-63263: CWE-400 Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in Elastic Elasticsearch
Description
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) in Elasticsearch can lead to denial of service via Exponential Data Expansion (CAPEC-197). An authenticated user may submit a specially crafted query to the ES|QL engine that causes exponential CPU consumption during query evaluation. Because the resource exhaustion persists beyond query completion, repeated requests can fully exhaust the available query worker resources, rendering ES|QL queries unavailable until the node is restarted.
CVSS v3.1
Score 6.5medium
Affected software
pkg:maven/org.elasticsearch/elasticsearchRun on your own infrastructure? Check whether these packages are installed with threat-finder — our free open-source scanner.
Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability (CVE-2026-63263) in Elasticsearch involves uncontrolled resource consumption (CWE-400) through exponential data expansion (CAPEC-197) triggered by maliciously crafted queries submitted by authenticated users to the ES|QL engine. The exponential CPU consumption persists beyond query completion, causing exhaustion of query worker resources and resulting in denial of service until the affected node is restarted. The vulnerability affects Elasticsearch versions 8.0.0, 9.0.0, and 9.4.0. There is no vendor advisory or patch available at this time.
Potential Impact
An attacker with authentication privileges can submit queries that cause exponential CPU consumption, leading to denial of service by exhausting query worker resources. This results in ES|QL queries becoming unavailable until the node is restarted, impacting availability but not confidentiality or integrity.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until a fix is available, monitor for unusual query patterns and consider restricting access to ES|QL query capabilities to trusted users only. Restarting the affected node restores service availability after exhaustion occurs.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- elastic
- Date Reserved
- 2026-07-16T03:26:51.579Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- null
Threat ID: 6a6002ce9c2644c7f8f13aa0
Added to database: 07/21/2026, 23:37:50 UTC
Last enriched: 07/21/2026, 23:52:54 UTC
Last updated: 07/22/2026, 00:10:22 UTC
Views: 4
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