# CVE-2026-78609: Incorrect Authorization in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes Leading to Unauthorized Modification of Data

> Attackers with limited Kubernetes permissions can spoof metadata to inject malicious certificates into Elasticsearch trust bundles, enabling unauthorized data modification.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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:** No
- **Published:** 2 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 2 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-h699-694r-9xxf

## What is CVE-2026-78609?

CVE-2026-78609 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Elastic Eck Operator, published on 2 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK) can lead to unauthorized modification of data via Metadata Spoofing (CAPEC-690). An actor holding limited Kubernetes permissions confined to a single namespace could cause attacker-controlled certificate material to be included in the Elasticsearch client trust bundle managed by ECK in a separate namespace.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-78609?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Elastic Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-78609?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-78609 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-78609 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-78609 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Elastic Eck Operator

- [CVE-2020-7010](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7010/): Cryptographic Issues in ECK (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2026-72640](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72640/): Unintended Proxy or Intermediary in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes Leading to Cross-Namespace Secret Disclosure (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2026-72648](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72648/): Information disclosure in Eck Operator (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2023-31416](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-31416/): Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK) secret token configuration issue (medium 5.3)
- [CVE-2026-78600](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-78600/): Incomplete Cleanup in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes Leading to Unauthorized Cross-Namespace Credential Retention (low 3.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-78609 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-78609 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Elastic Eck Operator, published on 2 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-2026-78609 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Elastic Eck Operator. 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-2026-78609/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-78609/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-78609
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-78609
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-78609

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-78609/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.