CVE-2023-31416Network attack vector

Anonymous APM data ingestion via outdated secret-token key

Published Oct 26, 2023 · Updated Sep 9, 2024

Authentication bypass in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes before 2.8 allows remote attackers to ingest anonymous data through APM Server 8.0 or later. The APM Server controller writes the pre-8.0 apm-server.secret_token setting instead of apm-server.auth.secret_token, so the configured token is ignored. Exposure requires an ECK-managed APM Server 8.0 or later with secret-token authentication configured; accepted requests add attacker-supplied events to the deployment.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.36%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Authentication bypass in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes before 2.8 allows remote attackers to ingest anonymous data through APM Server 8.0 or later. The APM Server controller writes the pre-8.0 apm-server.secret_token setting instead of apm-server.auth.secret_token, so the configured token is ignored. Exposure requires an ECK-managed APM Server 8.0 or later with secret-token authentication configured; accepted requests add attacker-supplied events to the deployment.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-31416
Published
Oct 26, 2023
Updated
Sep 9, 2024
Vendor
Elastic
Product
Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes
Classifications
T1565.002
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 26, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 9, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <2.8
  2. Affected versionversion=<2.8

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Elastic · Elastic Cloud on Kubernetesversion=0 <2.8; version=<2.8

Published CVSS scores

5.3ElasticCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1565.002Transmitted Data Manipulation

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

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo