CVE-2026-63140Network attack vector

Authenticated node crash via null query value

Published Jul 21, 2026 · Updated Jul 21, 2026

Reachable assertion in affected Elasticsearch 8.x and 9.x releases allows remote authenticated users to crash a node via a search request. A null value in a specific query clause raises an internal assertion during query parsing, and Elasticsearch treats the assertion failure as fatal and terminates the node process. Read access to one index is sufficient; a single request stops a single-node deployment or reduces a multi-node cluster's capacity.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.24%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Reachable assertion in affected Elasticsearch 8.x and 9.x releases allows remote authenticated users to crash a node via a search request. A null value in a specific query clause raises an internal assertion during query parsing, and Elasticsearch treats the assertion failure as fatal and terminates the node process. Read access to one index is sufficient; a single request stops a single-node deployment or reduces a multi-node cluster's capacity.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-63140
Published
Jul 21, 2026
Updated
Jul 21, 2026
Vendor
Elastic
Product
Elasticsearch
Classifications
CWE-617, CAPEC-153, T1489
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 21, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jul 21, 2026Record 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=8.0.0 <=8.19.18
  2. Affected versionversion=9.0.0 <=9.3.7
  3. Affected versionversion=9.4.0 <=9.4.3

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Elastic · Elasticsearchversion=8.0.0 <=8.19.18; version=9.0.0 <=9.3.7; version=9.4.0 <=9.4.3

Published CVSS scores

6.5ElasticCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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-617Reachable Assertion
CAPEC-153Input Data Manipulation
T1489Service Stop

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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