# CVE-2026-72645: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value in Elasticsearch Leading to Denial of Service

> An authenticated user with read access can cause a denial of service by triggering excessive memory allocation via a crafted search request.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 13 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BIT-elasticsearch-2026-72645, CLEANSTART-2026-FS56758, CLEANSTART-2026-GV25885, GHSA-vgfg-5pqm-8394, MINI-2839-2x22-m375, MINI-3r7r-2cr3-jhg3, MINI-4grq-9pq6-qjc4, MINI-73h5-vhc9-pq99, MINI-7fw9-j4fq-57r8, MINI-7hw3-898m-759m, MINI-7qgp-7x26-cwfh, MINI-7rpr-v42h-ghf6, MINI-83jw-ww2h-vpp3, MINI-8wgv-29hx-qmhx, MINI-9wpx-4ccw-3rh9, MINI-hgf9-hmrq-6c84, MINI-hxpv-h44m-xwp3, MINI-mjgg-26j9-w77p, MINI-pw63-74vc-gg32, MINI-qh52-3pjh-f628, MINI-qppg-6cmm-5q74, MINI-qq2r-9v4m-c2j6, MINI-v42h-fr3v-j5fx, MINI-v7vf-vjv2-65qx, MINI-ww82-v7c5-7x4m

## What is CVE-2026-72645?

CVE-2026-72645 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Elastic Elasticsearch, published on 13 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value (CWE-789) in Elasticsearch can lead to denial of service via Excessive Allocation (CAPEC-130). An authenticated user holding only read privileges on a single index can submit one small, specially crafted search request that causes an excessively large memory allocation, exhausting the JVM heap and terminating the affected node.

Weakness: CWE-789 (Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72645?

1 open source package ship an affected version, including elasticsearch. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `elasticsearch` | Bitnami | From 8.0.0 | 8.19.20, 9.4.5, 9.5.1 |

Products: Elastic Elasticsearch.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-72645?

Upgrade elasticsearch to a fixed version for your release line: 8.19.20, 9.4.5 or 9.5.1.

## Is CVE-2026-72645 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72645 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-2026-72645 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72645 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Elastic Elasticsearch, published on 13 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72645 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- elasticsearch (Bitnami): affected from 8.0.0; fixed in 8.19.20, 9.4.5, 9.5.1

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-2026-72645/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72645/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72645
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72645
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72645

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72645/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.