# CVE-2026-72668: Elastic Kibana privilege escalation in Agent Builder

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-72668-unintended-proxy-or-intermediary-confused-deputy-cwe-441-in  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-09-26. Updated: 2026-09-26  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-72668 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.3 · Published 2026-09-26

Kibana, a data visualization and analytics platform for Elasticsearch, contains a privilege escalation flaw in its Agent Builder component. A non-administrative user with limited permissions can manipulate a shared agent to trick higher-privileged users into executing administrative operations. In environments where the attacker also has workflow creation capabilities, this can lead to complete control over Kibana and the underlying Elasticsearch cluster.

Technologies: [Elastic Kibana](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/kibana). Vendors: [Elastic](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/elastic).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-72668 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-72668 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-72668?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.3, published 26 September 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Elastic Kibana 9.4.0 through 9.4.6.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-72668?** No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

**How is CVE-2026-72668 attacked?** It is attacked over the network.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-72668?** Check whether you run Elastic Kibana 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.

## Technical details

This is a confused deputy vulnerability (CWE-441) in Kibana's Agent Builder that allows privilege escalation through malicious agent configuration. An authenticated, non-administrative user with Agent Builder and Workflows privileges can modify shared agents to execute operations with the privileges of a higher-privileged user who subsequently interacts with the agent, potentially gaining administrative control of both Kibana and Elasticsearch. The vulnerability requires a generative AI connector to be configured and affects versions 9.4.0 through 9.4.6; it can be mitigated by disabling the Workflows feature.

## Affected products

- Elastic Kibana 9.4.0 through 9.4.6

## Timeline

- 2026-09-26: disclosed

## References

- [https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-9-4-7-9-5-0-security-update-esa-2026-85/390678](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-9-4-7-9-5-0-security-update-esa-2026-85/390678)

## Related threats

- [Elastic Kibana authorization bypass in connector logs](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-115295-authorization-bypass-through-user-controlled-key-cwe-639-in)
- [Elastic Kibana path traversal in Fleet feature](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-115294-improper-limitation-of-a-pathname-to-a-restricted-directory-cwe)
- [Elastic Kibana credential disclosure in Observability onboarding](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-115293-insertion-of-sensitive-information-into-sent-data-cwe-201-in)
- [Elastic Kibana authorization bypass in Machine Learning](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-115292-authorization-bypass-through-user-controlled-key-cwe-639-in)
- [Elastic Kibana incorrect authorization in Fleet settings](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-102412-incorrect-authorization-cwe-863-in-kibana-can-lead-to-sensitive)