CVE-2026-63139
Summary
by MITRE • 07/22/2026
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) in Kibana can lead to denial of service via Excessive Allocation (CAPEC-130). An authenticated low-privileged user can exploit an uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in Kibana's Canvas functionality by sending a specially crafted request, causing the Kibana server process to terminate and resulting in a denial of service for all users of the affected Kibana instance.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/22/2026
Kibana, as a popular data visualization and analytics platform built on top of the Elastic Stack, faces significant security challenges when dealing with resource management vulnerabilities that can compromise system availability. The identified uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability represents a critical weakness in Kibana's Canvas functionality where the application fails to properly validate or limit resource allocation during processing of user requests. This flaw manifests as an excessive allocation issue that allows authenticated users to manipulate system resources beyond acceptable limits, ultimately leading to service disruption and denial of access for legitimate users. The vulnerability specifically impacts the Canvas component which handles complex visualizations and data rendering operations, making it particularly dangerous in environments where users might have varying privilege levels but still retain the ability to submit crafted requests.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through a carefully constructed request that triggers resource allocation patterns exceeding normal operational parameters. When an authenticated user with low privileges submits such a malformed request to the Canvas functionality, the system's resource management mechanisms fail to impose appropriate limits on memory consumption, CPU utilization, or other critical resources. This lack of proper bounds checking and resource validation creates a pathway for malicious actors to exhaust system resources through what appears to be legitimate application usage patterns. The vulnerability falls under CWE-400 classification as it represents an uncontrolled allocation of system resources, where the application does not adequately monitor or restrict the amount of resources consumed during processing operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service interruption to encompass broader security implications for organizations relying on Kibana for critical data analysis and monitoring functions. When the targeted Kibana server process terminates due to resource exhaustion, all users lose access to the platform's capabilities including dashboards, visualizations, search functionality, and analytics reporting features. This denial of service affects not only individual users but potentially entire teams or departments that depend on real-time data insights for decision-making processes. The vulnerability demonstrates a particular risk in multi-tenant environments where low-privileged users might have access to Canvas functionality but should not be able to compromise system stability through resource exhaustion attacks.
From a security framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 which describes denial of service through excessive resource consumption, and represents a clear violation of resource management best practices outlined in various cybersecurity standards including NIST SP 800-53 and ISO 27001 controls. Organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring solutions to detect anomalous resource utilization patterns that could indicate exploitation attempts, while also applying the principle of least privilege to restrict access to Canvas functionality based on user roles and responsibilities. The vulnerability underscores the importance of input validation, resource limit enforcement, and proper error handling within application code to prevent malicious users from manipulating system resources through legitimate API endpoints.
Effective mitigations for this vulnerability require a multi-layered approach that includes immediate patching of affected Kibana versions, implementation of rate limiting and resource consumption monitoring, and configuration of appropriate access controls to restrict Canvas functionality to authorized personnel only. Security teams should establish baseline resource utilization metrics to quickly identify when abnormal consumption patterns occur, while also implementing automated alerts for processes approaching resource limits. Organizations may need to consider deploying additional security controls such as web application firewalls or intrusion detection systems that can identify and block suspicious request patterns before they can cause system resource exhaustion. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should include validation of resource management controls within Kibana installations to ensure proper enforcement of allocation limits and prevent exploitation of similar vulnerabilities in other components of the Elastic Stack ecosystem.