CVE-2026-72686: CWE-674 Uncontrolled Recursion in Elastic Elasticsearch
A flaw in Elasticsearch allows a low-privileged authenticated user to submit a single request containing a crafted user-supplied input. A specific internal component validates the input using a recursive routine and applies no bound to the length of the value being validated, so the validation causes the thread to exhaust its stack. The resulting fatal error is not handled by the surrounding execution paths and terminates the affected node process, producing a denial of service.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This vulnerability arises from an internal Elasticsearch component that validates user-supplied input using a recursive routine without limiting the recursion depth. A specially crafted request from a low-privileged authenticated user can cause the recursion to exhaust the thread's stack, resulting in a fatal error that terminates the Elasticsearch node process and causes denial of service. There is no indication of confidentiality or integrity impact, only availability is affected.
Potential Impact
The impact is a denial of service condition on the affected Elasticsearch node due to process termination caused by stack exhaustion. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity. The vulnerability requires low privileges and no user interaction beyond sending the crafted request.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. No official fix or workaround is currently documented. Until a patch is available, restrict access to authenticated users and monitor for unusual request patterns that might exploit this vulnerability.
CVE-2026-72686: CWE-674 Uncontrolled Recursion in Elastic Elasticsearch
Description
A flaw in Elasticsearch allows a low-privileged authenticated user to submit a single request containing a crafted user-supplied input. A specific internal component validates the input using a recursive routine and applies no bound to the length of the value being validated, so the validation causes the thread to exhaust its stack. The resulting fatal error is not handled by the surrounding execution paths and terminates the affected node process, producing a denial of service.
CVSS v3.1
Score 6.5medium
Affected software
Elastic
Elasticsearch
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 arises from an internal Elasticsearch component that validates user-supplied input using a recursive routine without limiting the recursion depth. A specially crafted request from a low-privileged authenticated user can cause the recursion to exhaust the thread's stack, resulting in a fatal error that terminates the Elasticsearch node process and causes denial of service. There is no indication of confidentiality or integrity impact, only availability is affected.
Potential Impact
The impact is a denial of service condition on the affected Elasticsearch node due to process termination caused by stack exhaustion. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity. The vulnerability requires low privileges and no user interaction beyond sending the crafted request.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. No official fix or workaround is currently documented. Until a patch is available, restrict access to authenticated users and monitor for unusual request patterns that might exploit this vulnerability.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- elastic
- Date Reserved
- 2026-08-10T11:17:58.731Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 6a7e1a85bf8831d539b18428
Added to database: 08/13/2026, 19:27:01 UTC
Last enriched: 08/13/2026, 19:42:43 UTC
Last updated: 09/26/2026, 02:41:20 UTC
Views: 61
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