CVE-2026-103007: Elasticsearch incorrect authorization in delegated role management

CVE-2026-103007 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.2 · Published 2026-10-06

Elasticsearch is a search and analytics engine used to index and query large datasets. An authorization flaw in its optional delegated role-management feature allows an administrator to unintentionally grant a user the ability to escalate their own privileges and access restricted internal security data, potentially leading to full cluster compromise. The vulnerability only affects deployments that use wildcard or regex patterns in delegated administrative grants and have not been patched.

Technologies: Elasticsearch. Vendors: Elastic.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-103007 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-103007 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-103007?
High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.2, published 6 October 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
Elasticsearch 8.16.0 through 8.19.21, 9.0.0 through 9.4.6, 9.5.0 through 9.5.3.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-103007?
Yes: fixed in Elasticsearch 8.19.22, 9.4.7, 9.5.4. Until then: For deployments unable to upgrade, review all roles granted the delegated role-management privilege and ensure configured index names use only literal index names without wildcard or regex patterns; remove the privilege from users who should not be able to expand their own access. Audit existing roles created through this feature for unexpected access to restricted indices and review security audit logs for suspicious role or user modifications by accounts holding the delegated privilege.</anigation> <parameter name="timeline">[{"kind": "disclosed", "at": "2026-10-06"}] Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-103007 attacked?
It is attacked over the network, in a hosted service.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-103007?
Check whether you run Elasticsearch at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

  • Fixed in: Elasticsearch 8.19.22, 9.4.7, 9.5.4

For deployments unable to upgrade, review all roles granted the delegated role-management privilege and ensure configured index names use only literal index names without wildcard or regex patterns; remove the privilege from users who should not be able to expand their own access. Audit existing roles created through this feature for unexpected access to restricted indices and review security audit logs for suspicious role or user modifications by accounts holding the delegated privilege.</anigation> <parameter name="timeline">[{"kind": "disclosed", "at": "2026-10-06"}]

Technical details

The vulnerability is an incorrect authorization (CWE-863) in the delegated "manage_roles" privilege. The authorization check does not fully account for role-definition settings that can expand the matched index set, allowing a user with a broadly-scoped index pattern to modify their own role to gain access to restricted and system indices. Exploitation requires the target deployment to have configured this non-default privilege with wildcard or regex patterns that match system indices, and the attacker must already hold that delegated privilege.

Affected products

  • Elastic Elasticsearch 8.16.0 through 8.19.21, 9.0.0 through 9.4.6, 9.5.0 through 9.5.3

References

This page as Markdown. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link back.