CVE-2019-7609
CVE-2019-7609 is a security flaw in Elastic Kibana. Attackers can run their own code on Elastic Kibana. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added it to its catalog of flaws known to be used in attacks on 10 Jan 2022.[1]
Elastic Kibana is business software or equipment. Most families won’t have it, but attackers break into it to get inside companies, and from there to what those companies hold about their customers, patients and staff. Elastic has published a fix or advice.
Description
CISA calls it an arbitrary code execution in Elastic Kibana. In its words: “Kibana contain an arbitrary code execution flaw in the Timelion visualizer.”[1]
The CVE record adds: “Kibana versions before 5.6.15 and 6.6.1 contain an arbitrary code execution flaw in the Timelion visualizer. An attacker with access to the Timelion application could send a request that will attempt to execute javascript code. This could possibly lead to an attacker executing arbitrary commands with permissions of the Kibana process on the host system.”[2]
The underlying weakness is code injection (CWE-94), in MITRE’s list of common software weaknesses.
It scores 10.0 out of 10 on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System, which rates it critical, scored by NVD using CVSS 3.1.[2]
Affected versions
NVD’s record doesn’t list version ranges for it; Elastic’s advisory has them[3]. CISA names the product as Elastic Kibana.
Most families won’t have Elastic Kibana; it’s for whoever looks after IT at work.
Exploitation
CISA added it to its catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities on 10 Jan 2022, 1,022 days after it was made public. CISA lists a flaw only when it has reliable evidence of it being exploited, and gave US federal agencies until 10 Jul 2022 to fix it.[1]
FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System, which estimates how likely a flaw is to be used in attacks in the next 30 days from what it sees across the internet, puts it at 95%. That’s in the top 1% of the flaws it scores.[4]
CISA assesses it as automatable: attackers can run it against many targets at once.
CISA doesn’t say who was attacked, or how.
Fix
Elastic has published a fix or advice.[3] CISA’s required action: “Apply updates per vendor instructions.”[1]
- Check whether you use it.Elastic Kibana is business software or equipment, so most families won’t have it. If you run a business, or work from home on company equipment, ask whoever looks after your IT.
- Send this page to your IT person.Ask them to confirm it’s fixed, or not in use. CISA gave US government agencies until 10 Jul 2022 to fix it.
- If it can’t be fixed, take it offline.CISA’s advice when there’s no fix is to stop using the product, or take it off the internet, until there is one.
You can’t fix someone else’s server, but you can watch for what follows a break-in like this: a breach notice, a password reset you didn’t ask for, or a scam message that knows things it shouldn’t. HARD watches for those for you and your family.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| The flaw is made public in the National Vulnerability Database, with a severity score of 10.0.[2] | |
| CISA adds it to its catalog of flaws known to be used in attacks.[1] | |
| CISA’s deadline for US government agencies to fix it.[1] | |
| FIRST puts the odds of it being used in attacks in the next 30 days at 95%.[4] |
See also
Other Elastic flaws
- CVE-2015-1427, Elasticsearch: groovy scripting engine remote code execution ·
- CVE-2014-3120, Elasticsearch: remote code execution ·
Other code injection flaws
- CVE-2026-0322, Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS: code injection ·
- CVE-2026-65660, Microsoft SharePoint: code injection ·
- CVE-2026-60004, Gitea: code injection ·
- CVE-2026-72530, TrueConf Server: code injection ·
- CVE-2025-62593, Ray-Project Ray: code injection ·
Added the same day
- CVE-2021-36260, Hikvision Security cameras web server: improper input validation ·
- CVE-2021-27860, FatPipe WARP, IPVPN, and MPVPN software: WARP, IPVPN, and MPVPN configuration upload exploit ·
- CVE-2021-22017, VMware vCenter Server: improper access control ·
- CVE-2020-6572, Google Chrome Media: use-after-free ·
- CVE-2019-9670, Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS): improper restriction of XML external entity reference ·
Every Elastic flaw on CISA’s list · Everything added in January 2022
References
- ^ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “Kibana Arbitrary Code Execution”. Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, added 10 Jan 2022.
- ^ National Institute of Standards and Technology. “CVE-2019-7609 Detail”. National Vulnerability Database, published 25 Mar 2019.
- ^ Elastic. Advisories and fixes: discuss.elastic.co.
- ^ FIRST. “Exploit Prediction Scoring System”. EPSS 0.953, percentile 99.9, 31 Oct 2026.
- CVE Program. “CVE-2019-7609”. The official CVE record.
This article is built from CISA’s catalog (version 2026.10.30), NVD’s record and FIRST’s scores, kept in HARD’s database and checked every morning. The plain English is HARD’s.