CVE-2024-43706
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes an improper authorization vulnerability in Kibana's Synthetic monitor endpoint that allows authenticated users to perform unauthorized actions via direct HTTP requests. It affects Kibana instances where users have some level of access but can escalate privileges beyond their intended permissions. Organizations using vulnerable Kibana versions with multiple user roles are at risk.
💻 Affected Systems
- Kibana
📦 What is this software?
Kibana by Elastic
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
An authenticated low-privilege user could gain administrative control over Kibana, modify monitoring configurations, access sensitive data, or disrupt monitoring operations.
Likely Case
Authenticated users could perform actions outside their authorized scope, such as modifying synthetic monitors they shouldn't have access to or viewing restricted monitoring data.
If Mitigated
With proper network segmentation and strict access controls, impact would be limited to authorized actions within the user's intended scope.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access and knowledge of the vulnerable endpoint. The vulnerability is in authorization logic, not authentication.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Kibana 8.12.1
Vendor Advisory: https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-8-12-1-security-update-esa-2024-21/379064
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download Kibana 8.12.1 from Elastic website. 2. Stop Kibana service. 3. Backup configuration and data. 4. Install/upgrade to 8.12.1. 5. Restart Kibana service. 6. Verify functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Synthetic Monitoring
allTemporarily disable the Synthetic Monitoring feature if not required
kibana.yml: xpack.synthetics.enabled: false
Restrict Network Access
linuxLimit access to Kibana endpoints using network controls
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 5601 -s trusted_ips -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 5601 -j DROP
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict role-based access controls and audit user permissions
- Monitor Kibana logs for unauthorized access attempts to synthetic monitor endpoints
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Kibana version: curl -X GET 'http://localhost:5601/api/status' | grep numberCheck Version:
curl -X GET 'http://localhost:5601/api/status' | grep -o '"number":"[^"]*"'Verify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 8.12.1 or later and test authorization controls for synthetic monitor endpoints📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unauthorized access attempts to /api/synthetics/* endpoints
- User privilege escalation in audit logs
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests to synthetic monitor endpoints from unauthorized user roles
- Unusual pattern of PUT/POST requests to monitoring endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="kibana.log" AND ("api/synthetics" OR "synthetic monitor") AND ("403" OR "unauthorized")