# CVE-2026-78597: Missing Authorization in Kibana Entity Store Leading to Unauthorized API Key Creation

> Low-privilege users can create Elasticsearch API keys via Entity Store, bypassing required administrative privileges.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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:** 1 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 1 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hw7g-86hr-vpjv, MINI-4wvx-q84g-xx5f, MINI-ch2m-f9wf-vhw4, MINI-m5cf-v5gv-mcv8, MINI-q4cq-cvf2-hj3j, MINI-q5vp-c9wv-rr2g, MINI-qx9f-rh2f-g7xr, MINI-wgmg-fvcj-cfp9

## What is CVE-2026-78597?

CVE-2026-78597 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Elastic Kibana, published on 1 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Missing Authorization (CWE-862) in the Kibana Entity Store feature can lead to unauthorized credential creation via Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs (CAPEC-1). An authenticated user holding only low-privilege Security feature access could invoke an administrative operation that creates and persists Elasticsearch API keys under the caller's identity, bypassing the elevated cluster and Kibana privileges that the documented Entity Store setup flow requires.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-78597?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Elastic Kibana.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-78597?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-78597 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-78597 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-2026-78597 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-78597 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Elastic Kibana, published on 1 Sep 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-2026-78597 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Elastic Kibana. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

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-2026-78597/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-78597/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-78597
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-78597
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-78597

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-78597/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.