# CVE-2026-72681: Missing Authorization in Kibana Leading to Privilege Escalation and Information Disclosure

> Attackers can escalate privileges and read sensitive data by bypassing authorization checks in Kibana Agent Builder.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **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:** 14 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BIT-elk-2026-72681, BIT-kibana-2026-72681, GHSA-9fww-g6xw-7wv9, MINI-cr8r-4fc2-wxjw

## What is CVE-2026-72681?

CVE-2026-72681 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

Kibana Agent Builder does not correctly verify that the requesting user holds the privileges required by a separate Kibana feature before it creates and runs a tool that invokes that feature's functionality. This allows privilege escalation and could lead to disclosure of sensitive information that the user is not authorized to read.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72681?

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


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `kibana` | Bitnami | From 9.4.0 | 9.4.4 |
| `elk` | Bitnami | From 9.4.0 | 9.4.4 |

Products: Elastic Kibana.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-72681?

Upgrade kibana to 9.4.4 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-72681 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72681 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-2026-72681 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72681 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-2026-72681 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- kibana (Bitnami): affected from 9.4.0; fixed in 9.4.4
- elk (Bitnami): affected from 9.4.0; fixed in 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-2026-72681/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72681/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72681
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72681
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72681

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72681/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.