Uncontrolled Recursion in Elasticsearch Leading to Denial of Service (CVE-2026-72686)
CVE-2026-72686 is a medium severity vulnerability in Elasticsearch where a low-privileged authenticated user can cause a denial of service by submitting a crafted input that triggers uncontrolled recursion during input validation. This recursion exhausts the thread's stack, causing the node process to terminate unexpectedly. The flaw affects multiple Elasticsearch versions prior to fixed releases. A patch is available to address this issue.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This vulnerability in Elasticsearch arises from an internal component that validates user-supplied input using a recursive routine without bounding the recursion depth. A crafted request from a low-privileged authenticated user can cause the recursion to exhaust the thread's stack, leading to a fatal error that terminates the node process and results in denial of service. The affected versions include >=8.0.0 <8.19.20, >=9.0.0 <9.4.5, and >=9.5.0 <9.5.1. No CVSS score is provided, but the impact is limited to denial of service. No known exploits are reported in the wild. A patch is available.
Potential Impact
An attacker with low-level authentication privileges can cause an Elasticsearch node to crash by triggering uncontrolled recursion in input validation, resulting in denial of service. This disrupts availability of the affected Elasticsearch node but does not indicate privilege escalation or data compromise based on the provided information.
Mitigation Recommendations
A patch is available for this vulnerability. Users should upgrade affected Elasticsearch versions to the fixed releases at or beyond 8.19.20, 9.4.5, and 9.5.1 to remediate this issue. No additional mitigation steps are indicated.
Uncontrolled Recursion in Elasticsearch Leading to Denial of Service (CVE-2026-72686)
Description
CVE-2026-72686 is a medium severity vulnerability in Elasticsearch where a low-privileged authenticated user can cause a denial of service by submitting a crafted input that triggers uncontrolled recursion during input validation. This recursion exhausts the thread's stack, causing the node process to terminate unexpectedly. The flaw affects multiple Elasticsearch versions prior to fixed releases. A patch is available to address this issue.
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 arises from an internal component that validates user-supplied input using a recursive routine without bounding the recursion depth. A crafted request from a low-privileged authenticated user can cause the recursion to exhaust the thread's stack, leading to a fatal error that terminates the node process and results in denial of service. The affected versions include >=8.0.0 <8.19.20, >=9.0.0 <9.4.5, and >=9.5.0 <9.5.1. No CVSS score is provided, but the impact is limited to denial of service. No known exploits are reported in the wild. A patch is available.
Potential Impact
An attacker with low-level authentication privileges can cause an Elasticsearch node to crash by triggering uncontrolled recursion in input validation, resulting in denial of service. This disrupts availability of the affected Elasticsearch node but does not indicate privilege escalation or data compromise based on the provided information.
Mitigation Recommendations
A patch is available for this vulnerability. Users should upgrade affected Elasticsearch versions to the fixed releases at or beyond 8.19.20, 9.4.5, and 9.5.1 to remediate this issue. No additional mitigation steps are indicated.
Technical Details
- Gcve Source
- db.gcve.eu
- Osv Id
- BIT-elasticsearch-2026-72686
- Osv Schema Version
- 1.6.2
- Aliases
- ["CVE-2026-72686"]
- Ecosystems
- ["Bitnami"]
- Database Specific Severity
- Medium
- Cvss Version
- null
Threat ID: 6a85b4b1acd9273b49251094
Added to database: 08/19/2026, 13:50:41 UTC
Last enriched: 08/19/2026, 14:09:49 UTC
Last updated: 08/19/2026, 18:52:00 UTC
Views: 2
Community Reviews
0 reviewsCrowdsource mitigation strategies, share intel context, and vote on the most helpful responses. Sign in to add your voice and help keep defenders ahead.
Want to contribute mitigation steps or threat intel context? Sign in or create an account to join the community discussion.
Actions
Updates to AI analysis require Pro Console access. Upgrade inside Console → Billing.
Need more coverage?
Upgrade to Pro Console for AI refresh and higher limits.
For incident response and remediation, OffSeq services can help resolve threats faster.
Latest Threats
Check if your credentials are on the dark web
Instant breach scanning across billions of leaked records. Free tier available.