CVE-2026-72639
published 2026-08-13CVE-2026-72639: Elasticsearch does not enforce an upper bound on a user-supplied count accepted by a search highlighting option, and the allocation derived from that count is…
PriorityP337medium6.5CVSS 3.1
AVNACLPRLUINSUCNINAH
EPSS
0.42%
34.3th percentile
Elasticsearch does not enforce an upper bound on a user-supplied count accepted by a search highlighting option, and the allocation derived from that count is not accounted against any circuit breaker. An authenticated user holding only read privileges on a single searchable index can submit one small search request that causes the node to reserve an excessively large internal data structure. The allocation occurs before the existing highlighting safety limits are evaluated, so memory exhaustion raises a fatal error that terminates the Elasticsearch node process. This results in a denial of service for the affected node and degrades cluster routing and health. The defect is not volumetric and does not depend on the size of the indexed data, so a single request is sufficient.
Affected
5 ranges
| Vendor | Product | Version range | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| elastic | elasticsearch | >= 8.19.0 < 8.19.20 | 8.19.20 |
| elastic | elasticsearch | 8.19.0 – 8.19.19 | — |
| elastic | elasticsearch | >= 9.3.0 < 9.4.5 | 9.4.5 |
| elastic | elasticsearch | 9.3.0 – 9.5.0 | — |
| elastic | elasticsearch | >= 9.5.0 < 9.5.1 | 9.5.1 |
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VulDB
Elastic Elasticsearch up to 8.19.19/9.5.0 Search Highlighting allocation of resources (WID-SEC-2026-2841)
vuldb·2026-08-16·CVSS 6.5
CVE-2026-72639 [MEDIUM] Elastic Elasticsearch up to 8.19.19/9.5.0 Search Highlighting allocation of resources (WID-SEC-2026-2841)
A vulnerability labeled as problematic has been found in Elastic Elasticsearch up to 8.19.19/9.5.0. Affected is an unknown function of the component Search Highlighting. The manipulation results in allocation of resources.
This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2026-72639. The attack may be launched remotely. There is no exploit available.
GHSA
Elasticsearch does not enforce an upper bound on a user-supplied count accepted by a search highlighting option, and the allocation derived from that count is not accounted against any circuit breaker
ghsa_unreviewed·2026-08-13
CVE-2026-72639 [MEDIUM] CWE-789 Elasticsearch does not enforce an upper bound on a user-supplied count accepted by a search highlighting option, and the allocation derived from that count is not accounted against any circuit breaker
Elasticsearch does not enforce an upper bound on a user-supplied count accepted by a search highlighting option, and the allocation derived from that count is not accounted against any circuit breaker. An authenticated user holding only read privileges on a single searchable index can submit one small search request that causes the node to reserve an excessively large internal data structure. The allocation occurs before the existing highlighting safety limits are evaluated, so memory exhaustion raises a fatal error that terminates the Elasticsearch node process. This results in a denial of service for the affected node and degrades cluster routing and health. The defect is not volumetric and does not depend on the size of the indexed data, so a single request is sufficient.
No detection rules found.
No public exploits indexed.
No writeups or analysis indexed.
2026-08-13
Published