CVE-2021-22149 Missing authorization in Elastic Enterprise Search

High 8.8 Published 15 Sep 2021 Updated 3 Aug 2024

An authenticated attacker can use higher-privileged API keys via an alternate route, leading to privilege escalation and unauthorized data access.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2021-22149?

CVE-2021-22149 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Elastic Enterprise Search, published on 15 Sep 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Elastic Enterprise Search App Search versions before 7.14.0 are vulnerable to an issue where API keys were missing authorization via an alternate route. Using this vulnerability, an authenticated attacker could utilize API keys belonging to higher privileged users.

Weakness: CWE-862, CWE-732

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-22149?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Elastic Enterprise Search.

How do I fix CVE-2021-22149?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-22149 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.

Is CVE-2021-22149 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-22149 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-fq33-497v-4h5x.