# CVE-2026-72673: Incorrect Authorization in Kibana Leading to Unauthorized Deletion of Synthetics Private Locations

> An authenticated user with Synthetics write privileges can delete shared private locations, disrupting monitoring in other spaces they cannot access.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L`)
- **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-elk-2026-72673, BIT-kibana-2026-72673, GHSA-39jx-7xf9-qq62, MINI-28qh-h96r-q2v2, MINI-2c97-7497-xccg, MINI-2wpp-5wwf-gmhv, MINI-5jqg-cqp6-643r, MINI-5qrc-gjv9-g8xv, MINI-jp6f-265w-6vxv, MINI-q56x-v2hf-j387

## What is CVE-2026-72673?

CVE-2026-72673 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Elastic Kibana, published on 13 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) in Kibana can lead to unauthorized deletion of Synthetics private locations via Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs (CAPEC-1). Synthetics private locations can be shared with more than one space, and deleting one removes it from every space it is shared with. The safeguard that prevented the deletion of a private location still in use evaluated only the monitors visible in the requesting user's own space, so monitors that depend on the private location in other spaces were not taken into account. As a result, an authenticated Kibana user holding the Synthetics write privilege in a single space could delete a private location that other spaces still depend on, even where the user has no access to those spaces. Deleting the private location removes the shared configuration and stops the monitors in the other spaces from running, which suppresses the availability monitoring those spaces rely on.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72673?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including kibana and elk. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `kibana` | Bitnami | From 8.0.0 | 8.19.20, 9.4.4 |
| `elk` | Bitnami | From 8.0.0 | 8.19.20, 9.4.4 |

Products: Elastic Kibana.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-72673?

Upgrade kibana to a fixed version for your release line: 8.19.20 or 9.4.4.

## Is CVE-2026-72673 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72673 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Elastic Kibana

- [CVE-2019-7609](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-7609/): Kibana Arbitrary Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [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)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72673 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72673 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Elastic Kibana, 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-2026-72673 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- kibana (Bitnami): affected from 8.0.0; fixed in 8.19.20, 9.4.4
- elk (Bitnami): affected from 8.0.0; fixed in 8.19.20, 9.4.4

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-2026-72673/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72673/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72673
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72673
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72673

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72673/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.