CVE-2020-7021

Sensitive credential disclosure through unfiltered audit request bodies

Published Feb 10, 2021 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Information disclosure in Elastic Elasticsearch before 7.10.0 and 6.8.14 allows local users to read secrets from audit logs. With audit logging and xpack.security.audit.logfile.events.emit_request_body enabled, the logfile output records request bodies without filtering sensitive fields. Access requires Elasticsearch administrator privileges and exposes password hashes or authentication tokens present in logged request bodies.

CVSS severity1.9
Low
EPSS probability1.31%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Information disclosure in Elastic Elasticsearch before 7.10.0 and 6.8.14 allows local users to read secrets from audit logs. With audit logging and xpack.security.audit.logfile.events.emit_request_body enabled, the logfile output records request bodies without filtering sensitive fields. Access requires Elasticsearch administrator privileges and exposes password hashes or authentication tokens present in logged request bodies.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-7021
Published
Feb 10, 2021
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Elastic
Product
Elasticsearch
Classifications
CWE-532, T1552.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 10, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=before 7.10.0 and 6.8.14

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Elastic · Elasticsearchversion=before 7.10.0 and 6.8.14

Published CVSS scores

4.0NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N
1.9ElasticCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
4.9NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-532Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File
T1552.001Credentials In Files

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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