#VU95145 Cleartext storage of sensitive information in Elasticsearch - CVE-2024-23444

Vulnerability identifier: #VU95145

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4.3 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2024-23444

CWE-ID: CWE-312

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Elasticsearch
Web applications / Other software

Vendor: Elastic Stack

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to gain access to sensitive information.

The vulnerability exists within the new Certificate Signing Requests when elasticsearch-certutil CLI tool is used with the csr option in order to create a new request. The associated private key that is generated is stored on disk unencrypted even if the --pass parameter is passed in the command invocation. A local user with access to the system can obtain the key.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Elasticsearch: 7.0.0 rc1 - 7.0.1, 7.1.0 - 7.17.22, 7.2.0 - 7.2.1, 7.3.0 - 7.3.2, 7.4.0 - 7.4.2, 7.5.0 - 7.5.2, 7.6.0 - 7.6.2, 7.7.0 - 7.7.1, 7.8.0 - 7.8.1, 7.9.0 - 7.9.3, 8.0.0 - 8.0.1, 8.1.0 - 8.12.2, 8.2.0 - 8.2.3, 8.3.0 - 8.3.3, 8.4.0, 8.4.1, 8.4.2, 8.4.3, 8.5.0, 8.5.1, 8.5.2, 8.5.3, 8.6.0, 8.6.1, 8.6.2, 8.7.0, 8.7.1, 8.8.0, 8.8.1, 8.8.2, 8.9.0, 8.9.1, 8.9.2

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External links
https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-8-13-0-7-17-23-security-update-esa-2024-12/364157

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.