CVE-2017-8438 — Elastic X-Pack Security versions 5
Elastic X-Pack Security versions 5.0.0 to 5.4.0 contain a privilege escalation bug in the run_as functionality. This bug prevents transitioning into the specified user specified in a run_as request. If a role has been created using a template that contains the _user properties, t
Published
2017-06-05T14:29:00.280
Last modified
2026-05-13T00:24:29.033
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
01What is this vulnerability?
Elastic X-Pack Security versions 5.0.0 to 5.4.0 contain a privilege escalation bug in the run_as functionality. This bug prevents transitioning into the specified user specified in a run_as request. If a role has been created using a template that contains the _user properties, the behavior of run_as will be incorrect. Additionally if the run_as user specified does not exist, the transition will…
02Affected products
No structured affected-product list available — see references below for vendor advisories.
03Active exploitation status
Not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. EPSS is the best forward-looking signal — see the EPSS row above.
04Recommended remediation
- Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
- Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
- Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.
05Technical details
For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.
06Detection signatures
Ask SARA in chat to draft a starting detection for this CVE in your stack of choice.
07Related CVEs
No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.
08Timeline
- Published: 2017-06-05T14:29:00.280
- Last modified: 2026-05-13T00:24:29.033
09References
- discuss.elastic.co — https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elastic-stack-5-4-1-and-5-3-3-security-updates/8795…
- www.elastic.co — https://www.elastic.co/blog/elasticsearch-5-4-1-and-5-3-3-released
- www.elastic.co — https://www.elastic.co/community/security
- discuss.elastic.co — https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elastic-stack-5-4-1-and-5-3-3-security-updates/8795…
- www.elastic.co — https://www.elastic.co/blog/elasticsearch-5-4-1-and-5-3-3-released
- www.elastic.co — https://www.elastic.co/community/security
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