CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-46668 — Elastic Endpoint security vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.1

If Elastic Endpoint (v7.9.0 - v8.10.3) is configured to use a non-default option in which the logging level is explicitly set to debug, and when Elastic Agent is simultaneously configured to collect and send those logs to Elasticsearch, then Elastic Agent API keys can be viewed in Elasticsearch in plaintext. These API keys could be used to write arbitrary data and read Elastic Endpoint user artifacts.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.1 (3.1)
Published
2023-10-26
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-532

Affected products

  • elastic / endpoint

Matched remediation archetype

Information disclosure and sensitive data exposure

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Trace sensitive data through responses, errors, logs, metrics, traces, caches, exports, files, backups, and client bundles.
  • Identify affected subjects, tenants, retention windows, access controls, and downstream copies without opening unnecessary sensitive records.
  • Review metadata, timing, status, length, and existence signals as well as direct content disclosure.

Remediate safely

  • Minimize collection and output, apply field-level authorization and redaction at a centralized boundary, and return generic external errors.
  • Remove secrets and sensitive data from logs, artifacts, URLs, caches, and client-side bundles; rotate credentials that may have been exposed.
  • Update the affected component and add synthetic-data tests for response, error, observability, and export paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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