Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value in Elasticsearch Leading to Denial of Service (CVE-2026-72687)
CVE-2026-72687 is a medium severity vulnerability in Elasticsearch where a low-privileged authenticated user can cause a denial of service by submitting a crafted request with a forged opaque identifier. This identifier contains a size value that triggers an unbounded memory allocation, leading to an out-of-memory condition that crashes the node process.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This vulnerability in Elasticsearch allows a low-privileged authenticated user to submit a request containing a forged opaque identifier. Elasticsearch decodes and deserializes this identifier before verifying its legitimacy. However, a size value inside the identifier drives a memory allocation that is not limited or controlled by existing memory usage safeguards. This results in an out-of-memory condition that terminates the affected node process, causing a denial of service. The affected versions are Elasticsearch >=8.0.0 <8.19.20, >=9.0.0 <9.4.5, and >=9.5.0 <9.5.1.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation causes the Elasticsearch node process to terminate due to an out-of-memory condition, resulting in denial of service. This impacts availability of the affected Elasticsearch node. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.
Mitigation Recommendations
A patch is available for this vulnerability. Users should upgrade affected Elasticsearch versions to fixed releases at or beyond 8.19.20, 9.4.5, or 9.5.1 as applicable. No other mitigation guidance is provided.
Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value in Elasticsearch Leading to Denial of Service (CVE-2026-72687)
Description
CVE-2026-72687 is a medium severity vulnerability in Elasticsearch where a low-privileged authenticated user can cause a denial of service by submitting a crafted request with a forged opaque identifier. This identifier contains a size value that triggers an unbounded memory allocation, leading to an out-of-memory condition that crashes the node process.
Affected software
pkg:bitnami/elasticsearchRun on your own infrastructure? Check whether these packages are installed with threat-finder — our free open-source scanner.
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability in Elasticsearch allows a low-privileged authenticated user to submit a request containing a forged opaque identifier. Elasticsearch decodes and deserializes this identifier before verifying its legitimacy. However, a size value inside the identifier drives a memory allocation that is not limited or controlled by existing memory usage safeguards. This results in an out-of-memory condition that terminates the affected node process, causing a denial of service. The affected versions are Elasticsearch >=8.0.0 <8.19.20, >=9.0.0 <9.4.5, and >=9.5.0 <9.5.1.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation causes the Elasticsearch node process to terminate due to an out-of-memory condition, resulting in denial of service. This impacts availability of the affected Elasticsearch node. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.
Mitigation Recommendations
A patch is available for this vulnerability. Users should upgrade affected Elasticsearch versions to fixed releases at or beyond 8.19.20, 9.4.5, or 9.5.1 as applicable. No other mitigation guidance is provided.
Technical Details
- Gcve Source
- db.gcve.eu
- Osv Id
- BIT-elasticsearch-2026-72687
- Osv Schema Version
- 1.6.2
- Aliases
- ["CVE-2026-72687"]
- Ecosystems
- ["Bitnami"]
- Database Specific Severity
- Medium
- Cvss Version
- null
Threat ID: 6a85b4b1acd9273b49251092
Added to database: 08/19/2026, 13:50:41 UTC
Last enriched: 08/19/2026, 14:09:25 UTC
Last updated: 08/19/2026, 18:52:00 UTC
Views: 3
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