# CVE-2026-81843: Grafana Elasticsearch data source denial of service via time range

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-81843-grafana-is-an-open-source-platform-for-monitoring-and  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-11-12. Updated: 2026-11-12  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-81843 · Severity: medium · CVSS 6.5 · Published 2026-11-12

Grafana, an open-source monitoring and observability platform, contains a flaw in how it handles Elasticsearch data sources with time-based index patterns. An attacker with basic query permissions can submit a request with an extremely wide time range, causing Grafana to allocate memory without limit until the service crashes, disrupting monitoring and alerting capabilities.

Technologies: [Grafana](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/grafana-grafana). Vendors: [Grafana](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/grafana).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-81843 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-81843 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-81843?** Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 6.5, published 12 November 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Grafana <UNKNOWN>.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-81843?** 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-2026-81843 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a web application.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-81843?** Check whether you run Grafana 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

When an Elasticsearch data source uses a time-based index pattern, Grafana generates one index name per interval across the entire requested time range without enforcing limits, causing unbounded memory allocation. A user with Viewer role or higher can trigger this by submitting a query with an extreme time range; the memory exhaustion occurs before any request reaches Elasticsearch, making the attack effective regardless of cluster reachability. Static index-name configurations are not vulnerable.

## Affected products

- Grafana Grafana <UNKNOWN>

## Timeline

- 2026-11-12: disclosed

## References

- [https://grafana.com/security/security-advisories/cve-2026-81843](https://grafana.com/security/security-advisories/cve-2026-81843)

## Related threats

- [Grafana Elasticsearch data source improper authorization in resource proxy](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-106475-the-elasticsearch-data-source-resource-proxy-forwards-the)
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