Excessive Size Memory Allocation in Elasticsearch Leads to DoS (CWE-789)
CVE-2026-72645 Published on August 13, 2026
Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value in Elasticsearch Leading to Denial of Service
Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value (CWE-789) in Elasticsearch can lead to denial of service via Excessive Allocation (CAPEC-130). An authenticated user holding only read privileges on a single index can submit one small, specially crafted search request that causes an excessively large memory allocation, exhausting the JVM heap and terminating the affected node.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2026-72645 can be exploited with network access, and requires small amount of user privileges. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have no impact on confidentiality and integrity, and a high impact on availability.
Weakness Type
What is a Stack Exhaustion Vulnerability?
The product allocates memory based on an untrusted, large size value, but it does not ensure that the size is within expected limits, allowing arbitrary amounts of memory to be allocated.
CVE-2026-72645 has been classified to as a Stack Exhaustion vulnerability or weakness.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-72645
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Affected Versions
Elasticsearch:- Version 8.0.0, <= 8.19.19 is affected.
- Version 9.0.0, <= 9.4.4 is affected.
- Version 9.5.0 is affected.