# CVE-2019-7609: Kibana Arbitrary Code Execution

> An attacker with Timelion access can execute arbitrary JavaScript, leading to remote code execution on the Kibana host system.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Yes, since 10 Jan 2022 (CISA KEV)
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Mar 2019
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cp8f-5jp9-rqmh

## What is CVE-2019-7609?

CVE-2019-7609 is a critical code injection vulnerability in Elastic Kibana, published on 25 Mar 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Kibana versions before 5.6.15 and 6.6.1 contain an arbitrary code execution flaw in the Timelion visualizer. An attacker with access to the Timelion application could send a request that will attempt to execute javascript code. This could possibly lead to an attacker executing arbitrary commands with permissions of the Kibana process on the host system.

Weakness: CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-7609?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Elastic Kibana, Redhat Openshift Container Platform.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-7609?

Upgrade to a fixed version. US federal agencies must fix it by 10 Jul 2022.

## Is CVE-2019-7609 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2019-7609 in the wild since at least 10 Jan 2022.

Public exploit code:

- exploit CVE-2019-7609(kibana RCE) on right way by python2 scripts (github_poc): https://github.com/LandGrey/CVE-2019-7609
- kibana < 6.6.0 未授权远程代码命令执行 (Need Timelion And Canvas),CVE-2019-7609 (github_poc): https://github.com/jas502n/kibana-RCE
- RCE on Kibana versions before 5.6.15 and 6.6.0 in the Timelion visualizer (github_poc): https://github.com/mpgn/CVE-2019-7609
- https://github.com/hekadan/CVE-2019-7609 (github_poc): https://github.com/hekadan/CVE-2019-7609
- Kibana <6.6.0 RCE written in python3 (github_poc): https://github.com/Cr4ckC4t/cve-2019-7609
- https://github.com/rhbb/CVE-2019-7609 (github_poc): https://github.com/rhbb/CVE-2019-7609

## Other vulnerabilities in Elastic Kibana

- [CVE-2025-25015](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-25015/): Kibana arbitrary code execution via prototype pollution (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2024-37288](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-37288/): Deserialization in Kibana (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2023-31415](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-31415/): Code injection in Kibana (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2018-17245](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17245/): Information disclosure in Kibana (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-17246](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17246/): Code injection in Kibana (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-7609 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-7609 is a critical code injection vulnerability in Elastic Kibana, published on 25 Mar 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2019-7609 in the wild since at least 10 Jan 2022.

Affected product: Elastic Kibana. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-7609/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-7609/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-7609
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-7609
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-7609

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-7609/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.