# CVE-2023-49921: Elasticsearch Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File

> Elasticsearch Watcher search inputs log raw document contents at DEBUG level, exposing sensitive data to users with log access.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Jul 2024
- **Updated:** 2 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** BIT-elasticsearch-2023-49921, GHSA-2hjr-vmf3-xwvp, MINI-fr6h-5ccx-q3cr, MINI-jqrh-pc2w-cqrh, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-49921

## What is CVE-2023-49921?

CVE-2023-49921 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Elastic Elasticsearch, published on 26 Jul 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

An issue was discovered by Elastic whereby Watcher search input logged the search query results on DEBUG log level. This could lead to raw contents of documents stored in Elasticsearch to be printed in logs. Elastic has released 8.11.2 and 7.17.16 that resolves this issue by removing this excessive logging. This issue only affects users that use Watcher and have a Watch defined that uses the search input and additionally have set the search input’s logger to DEBUG or finer, for example using: org.elasticsearch.xpack.watcher.input.search, org.elasticsearch.xpack.watcher.input, org.elasticsearch.xpack.watcher, or wider, since the loggers are hierarchical.

Weakness: CWE-532 (Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-49921?

5 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch and elasticsearch. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch` | Maven | All versions | 7.17.16 |
| `org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch` | Maven | All versions | 7.17.16 |
| `org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch` | Maven | From 8.0.0 | 8.11.2 |
| `org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch` | Maven | From 8.0.0 | 8.11.2 |
| `elasticsearch` | Bitnami | From 7.0.0 | 7.17.16, 8.11.2 |

Products: Elastic Elasticsearch.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-49921?

Upgrade org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch to a fixed version for your release line: 7.17.16 or 8.11.2.

## Is CVE-2023-49921 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-49921 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Elastic Elasticsearch

- [CVE-2015-1427](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1427/): Elasticsearch Groovy Scripting Engine Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2014-3120](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3120/): Elasticsearch Remote Code Execution (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-5377](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-5377/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-72649](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72649/): Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Elasticsearch Leading to Remote Code Execution (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-72642](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72642/): Use of Out-of-range Pointer Offset in the Elasticsearch Machine Learning Native Inference Process (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-49921 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-49921 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Elastic Elasticsearch, published on 26 Jul 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-49921 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (Maven): affected all versions; fixed in 7.17.16
- org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (Maven): affected all versions; fixed in 7.17.16
- org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (Maven): affected from 8.0.0; fixed in 8.11.2
- org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (Maven): affected from 8.0.0; fixed in 8.11.2
- elasticsearch (Bitnami): affected from 7.0.0; fixed in 7.17.16, 8.11.2

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-2023-49921/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-49921/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-49921
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-49921
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-49921

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-49921/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.