CVE-2026-78608 in Kibana
Summary
by MITRE • 09/01/2026
Missing Authorization (CWE-862) in Kibana can lead to information disclosure via Privilege Abuse (CAPEC-122). An authorization control was not applied to an internal Kibana APM integration function, allowing any authenticated Kibana user to read APM server credentials that should be restricted to users holding APM or Fleet administrative privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/01/2026
The vulnerability identified in Elasticsearch's Kibana component represents a critical failure in access control mechanisms, specifically categorized under CWE-862 as Missing Authorization. This flaw resides within an internal Application Performance Monitoring integration function that was inadvertently exposed to the broader user base without adequate permission checks. The core technical issue is that the application logic fails to verify whether the requesting authenticated user possesses the necessary administrative privileges for APM or Fleet management before granting access to sensitive configuration data. Consequently, any individual who has successfully authenticated to the Kibana interface can invoke this internal endpoint and retrieve server credentials intended solely for privileged operators. This misconfiguration effectively bypasses the principle of least privilege, allowing lower-level users to escalate their capabilities by accessing secrets that should remain strictly confidential within administrative contexts.
From an operational perspective, the impact of this vulnerability is severe due to the nature of the exposed data. The retrieved APM server credentials serve as authentication tokens or keys required for agents and servers to communicate securely with the monitoring infrastructure. If these credentials are compromised, attackers can perform CAPEC-122, known as Privilege Abuse, by leveraging them to impersonate legitimate services within the network. This enables unauthorized access to performance metrics, potentially leading to further reconnaissance activities where an attacker maps out the internal architecture and identifies additional targets for exploitation. Furthermore, possession of these credentials could allow malicious actors to inject false telemetry data into the monitoring system, thereby obscuring their own lateral movements or other malicious activities from security teams who rely on accurate APM data for threat detection.
The attack vector associated with this flaw aligns closely with ATT&CK technique T1078, Valid Accounts, as it relies on existing valid credentials to gain unauthorized access to specific resources. Once authenticated, the attacker utilizes a direct exploitation path that does not require complex social engineering or external network penetration beyond what is already permitted by standard user roles. This highlights a significant gap in the default security posture of Kibana installations where broad authentication rights are granted without corresponding granular authorization controls for sensitive administrative functions. The lack of proper role-based access control enforcement means that even users with minimal intended privileges can interact with high-security internal APIs, creating an asymmetric risk profile where low-level accounts pose a disproportionate threat to infrastructure integrity.
To mitigate this vulnerability and restore secure operational boundaries, immediate remediation efforts must focus on enforcing strict authorization checks within the affected Kibana integration functions. Developers should implement rigorous validation logic that verifies the user's role against specific APM or Fleet administrative permissions before processing any requests for credential retrieval. Additionally, organizations running vulnerable versions of Kibana are advised to apply the latest security patches provided by Elasticsearch as soon as they become available. In environments where patching is not immediately feasible, network-level controls such as web application firewalls can be configured to restrict access to internal API endpoints based on user session attributes or IP whitelisting for administrative interfaces only. Regular audits of role-based access policies and continuous monitoring for anomalous requests to sensitive configuration endpoints are also recommended to detect potential exploitation attempts in real time.