CVE-2026-72668
Received Received - Intake

Privilege Escalation in Kibana Agent Builder via Confused Deputy

Publication date: 2026-09-26

Last updated on: 2026-09-26

Assigner: Elastic

Description
Unintended Proxy or Intermediary ('Confused Deputy') (CWE-441) in Kibana Agent Builder can lead to privilege escalation. A non-administrative user able to edit a shared agent could cause privileged operations to be carried out under the identity of a higher-privileged user who subsequently interacts with that agent. Where the same user can also author workflows, this can extend to full administrative control of Kibana and of the Elasticsearch cluster.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-09-26
Last Modified
2026-09-26
Generated
2026-09-27
AI Q&A
2026-09-27
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-72668

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
elastic kibana_agent_builder *

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-441 The product receives a request, message, or directive from an upstream component, but the product does not sufficiently preserve the original source of the request before forwarding the request to an external actor that is outside of the product's control sphere. This causes the product to appear to be the source of the request, leading it to act as a proxy or other intermediary between the upstream component and the external actor.

Attack-Flow Graph

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability is a Confused Deputy issue where a non-administrative user with access to edit a shared agent in Kibana Agent Builder can trick a higher-privileged user into performing privileged operations. If the same user can also create workflows, this could escalate to full administrative control over Kibana and the Elasticsearch cluster.

Impact Analysis

An attacker with limited access could gain higher privileges, allowing them to perform unauthorized actions such as accessing sensitive data, modifying configurations, or taking control of the Elasticsearch cluster. This could lead to data breaches or system compromise.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, violating compliance requirements such as GDPR or HIPAA. Organizations may face legal penalties, reputational damage, and loss of trust due to data exposure or unauthorized modifications.

Mitigation Strategies

Restrict user permissions to prevent non-administrative users from editing shared agents. Review and audit agent configurations for unauthorized changes. Ensure workflow authorship is limited to trusted users only.

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