CVE-2021-37936Network attack vector

Stored HTML injection via unsanitized highlights

Published Nov 18, 2022 · Updated Apr 29, 2025

Stored cross-site scripting in Elastic Kibana 7.14.0 allows remote authenticated users to inject HTML through indexed document fields. Discover renders Elasticsearch search-highlight snippets from document fields without sanitizing embedded HTML before inserting the highlighted content into the page. The attacker must be able to write to an Elasticsearch index, and exposure occurs when Discover highlights a matching search term for a Kibana user.

CVSS severity4.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.47%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Stored cross-site scripting in Elastic Kibana 7.14.0 allows remote authenticated users to inject HTML through indexed document fields. Discover renders Elasticsearch search-highlight snippets from document fields without sanitizing embedded HTML before inserting the highlighted content into the page. The attacker must be able to write to an Elasticsearch index, and exposure occurs when Discover highlights a matching search term for a Kibana user.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-37936
Published
Nov 18, 2022
Updated
Apr 29, 2025
Vendor
Elastic
Product
Kibana
Classifications
CWE-79
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 18, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 29, 2025Record 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=versions before 7.14.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Elastic · Kibanaversion=versions before 7.14.1

Published CVSS scores

5.4CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
4.3ElasticCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
5.4NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

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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