CVE-2026-42397 in Kibana
Summary
by MITRE • 07/21/2026
Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (CWE-770) in Kibana can lead to a denial of service via Excessive Allocation (CAPEC-130). An authenticated user can submit a specially crafted request to affected Entity Analytics endpoints containing an oversized input value that causes excessive resource consumption, which may render Kibana unavailable.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/21/2026
The vulnerability described represents a critical resource management flaw in Kibana's Entity Analytics functionality that directly maps to CWE-770, Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling. This weakness occurs when the system fails to implement proper bounds checking or resource allocation limits for user-supplied inputs, creating an avenue for malicious actors to exhaust system resources through carefully crafted requests. The specific exposure manifests in Entity Analytics endpoints where input validation mechanisms are insufficient to prevent excessive data processing demands from authenticated users.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability involves submitting specially constructed requests containing oversized input values that trigger resource-intensive operations within Kibana's analytics engine. When these requests are processed, they cause the system to allocate excessive memory and CPU resources without proper throttling mechanisms, leading to a cascading effect that can overwhelm the application's resource pools. The attacker leverages their authenticated status to bypass initial access controls while focusing on resource exhaustion as the primary attack vector. This approach aligns with CAPEC-130's methodology of excessive allocation, where the attacker consumes system resources beyond normal operational limits.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the entire Kibana instance and its underlying infrastructure. When resource consumption spirals out of control, legitimate users experience degraded performance or complete unavailability of the analytics platform, which can affect security operations and monitoring capabilities that depend on Entity Analytics functionality. The denial of service condition may persist until manual intervention occurs, including system restarts or resource allocation resets, creating extended downtime windows that impact organizational security posture.
Organizations should implement multiple layers of defense to mitigate this vulnerability effectively. Input validation mechanisms must be strengthened with explicit size limits and resource consumption thresholds for all Entity Analytics endpoints. The system should incorporate rate limiting and resource monitoring to detect and prevent abnormal usage patterns that exceed normal operational parameters. Additionally, implementing proper error handling and graceful degradation mechanisms will help maintain system availability even when malicious requests are processed. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with T1499.004 (Endpoint Denial of Service) and requires defensive measures including network segmentation, resource monitoring, and privileged access controls to limit the impact of authenticated users who might exploit such weaknesses in security analytics platforms.