CVE-2026-72678: elastic elasticsearch

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-72678 is a medium (CVSS 6.5) vulnerability in elastic elasticsearch. EPSS estimates a 0.47% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 39.7% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 13-08-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 13-08-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Elasticsearch does not validate a size value taken from a user-supplied input before that value is used to reserve memory for an internal data structure. An authenticated user holding only read privileges can submit a single small crafted request to a product API endpoint that causes the node to attempt an excessively large allocation. The resulting memory exhaustion raises a fatal error that terminates the Elasticsearch node process, causing a denial of service for the affected node and degrading cluster health. The defect is not volumetric, so a single request is sufficient regardless of the heap size configured on the target node.

• CWE-789Memory Allocation with Excessive Size ValueThe product allocates memory based on an untrusted, large size value, but it does not ensure that the size is within expected limits, allowing arbitrary amounts of memory to be allocated.