CVE-2026-72648Network attack vectorHinoki check available

Credential disclosure via cleartext workload environment variable

Published Aug 13, 2026 · Updated Aug 13, 2026

Information exposure in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes 3.0.0 through 3.4.1 allows remote authenticated users to read Elasticsearch credentials. During Fleet Server reconciliation, ECK writes the Elasticsearch service account token directly into the generated workload environment instead of using a Kubernetes Secret reference. Read access to workload specifications in the affected namespace is sufficient, even without permission to read Secrets; integrity and availability are not affected.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.31%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkAvailable
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Information exposure in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes 3.0.0 through 3.4.1 allows remote authenticated users to read Elasticsearch credentials. During Fleet Server reconciliation, ECK writes the Elasticsearch service account token directly into the generated workload environment instead of using a Kubernetes Secret reference. Read access to workload specifications in the affected namespace is sufficient, even without permission to read Secrets; integrity and availability are not affected.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-72648
Published
Aug 13, 2026
Updated
Aug 13, 2026
Vendor
Elastic
Product
Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes
Classifications
CWE-526, CAPEC-37, T1552.007
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 13, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 13, 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=3.0.0 <=3.4.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Elastic · Elastic Cloud on Kubernetesversion=3.0.0 <=3.4.1

Published CVSS scores

6.5ElasticCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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.

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-526Exposure of Sensitive Information Through Environmental Variables
CAPEC-37Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data
T1552.007Unsecured Credentials: Container API

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