CVE-2021-22137Network attack vector

Protected-document discovery via cross-cluster permission loss

Published May 13, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Information disclosure in Elastic Elasticsearch before 6.8.15 and 7.11.2 allows remote authenticated users to infer protected documents. Certain cross-cluster search queries fail to preserve Document or Field Level Security permissions, revealing whether inaccessible documents exist. Exploitation requires low-privilege access, user interaction, and Document or Field Level Security; protected document contents remain unreadable.

CVSS severity2.6
Low
EPSS probability1.11%
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 6.8.15 and 7.11.2 allows remote authenticated users to infer protected documents. Certain cross-cluster search queries fail to preserve Document or Field Level Security permissions, revealing whether inaccessible documents exist. Exploitation requires low-privilege access, user interaction, and Document or Field Level Security; protected document contents remain unreadable.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-22137
Published
May 13, 2021
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
Elastic
Product
Elasticsearch
Classifications
CWE-281, CWE-200
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 13, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 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 7.11.2 and 6.8.15

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Elastic · Elasticsearchversion=before 7.11.2 and 6.8.15

Published CVSS scores

4.3NIST NVDAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
2.6ElasticCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
5.3NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-281Improper Preservation of Permissions
CWE-200Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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