CVE-2026-72639
MEDIUMDescription
Elasticsearch does not enforce an upper bound on a user-supplied count accepted by a search highlighting option, and the allocation derived from that count is not accounted against any circuit breaker. An authenticated user holding only read privileges on a single searchable index can submit one small search request that causes the node to reserve an excessively large internal data structure. The allocation occurs before the existing highlighting safety limits are evaluated, so memory exhaustion raises a fatal error that terminates the Elasticsearch node process. This results in a denial of service for the affected node and degrades cluster routing and health. The defect is not volumetric and does not depend on the size of the indexed data, so a single request is sufficient.
How to fix
No published remediation has been found for this vulnerability's affected products yet.
Mitigation guidance may be in the linked vendor advisories in the References section below.
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CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 22% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-789 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2022-30522 | High | 7.5 | 90% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2026-49975 | High | 7.5 | 28% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2025-27533 | High | 7.5 | 8.6% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-7651 | High | 7.5 | 5.0% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2021-31811 | Medium | 5.5 | 3.4% | - | - |
| CVE-2021-27906 | Medium | 5.5 | 3.3% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2026-72639?
No published fix for CVE-2026-72639 has been found yet. Check the linked vendor advisories for guidance as it becomes available.
Is CVE-2026-72639 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2026-72639 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.29% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 22% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2026-72639?
CVE-2026-72639 has a CVSS v3 base score of 6.5, rated medium. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-08-13.