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CVE-2026-72686

MEDIUM 6.5

Published 2026-08-13 · Last modified 2026-08-13

A flaw in Elasticsearch allows a low-privileged authenticated user to submit a single request containing a crafted user-supplied input. A specific internal component validates the input using a recursive routine and applies no bound to the length of the value being validated, so the validation causes the thread to exhaust its stack. The resulting fatal error is not handled by the surrounding execution paths and terminates the affected node process, producing a denial of service.

NO EXPLOITATION SIGNALS

No known exploitation, public exploit, or elevated probability at this time. Track for changes.

Exploitation likelihood

0.4%chance of exploitation in 30 days · 29th percentile

○ In CISA KEV ○ Public exploit / PoC

Impact if exploited

6.5CVSS 3.1 · MEDIUM

  • ConfidentialityNone
  • IntegrityNone
  • AvailabilityHigh

What an attacker needs

  • ✓Access: Reachable over the network — no local access needed
  • ⚠Privileges: Requires a low-privilege account
  • ✓User interaction: No user interaction needed
  • ✓Complexity: No special conditions — reliably repeatable

✓ lowers the bar for an attacker · ⚠ raises it

Proof of concept & exploit code

Test against your own equipment

curl -s https://vulnpedia.com/cve/CVE-2026-72686/poc.jsonMachine-readable PoC index for this CVE (for automation).

Listed for defensive triage, patch verification, and authorized testing on systems you own. Machine-readable: /cve/CVE-2026-72686/poc.json

Affected

Vendors Elastic

Products Elasticsearch

Weakness (CWE)

  • CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

All CVSS metrics

  • MEDIUM 6.5 v3.1 · CNA Primary
    CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
  • MEDIUM 6.5 v3.1 · NVD Secondary
    CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

References

Technical & other

Sources: NVD · CVE.org · EPSS