CVE-2025-68387
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Kibana's Vega AST evaluator that allows unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages. When exploited, these scripts execute in victims' browsers, potentially stealing session cookies, credentials, or performing unauthorized actions. Organizations running vulnerable Kibana versions with internet-facing instances are primarily affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Elastic Kibana
📦 What is this software?
Kibana by Elastic
Kibana by Elastic
Kibana by Elastic
Kibana by Elastic
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers steal administrator session cookies, gain full access to Kibana dashboards, exfiltrate sensitive indexed data, and pivot to backend Elasticsearch clusters.
Likely Case
Session hijacking of Kibana users, credential theft via phishing, defacement of dashboards, or limited data exposure from accessible indices.
If Mitigated
Script execution blocked by Content Security Policy (CSP), minimal impact with proper input validation and output encoding in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
The vulnerability requires attackers to craft malicious Vega specifications that get evaluated by the vulnerable handler. No authentication is required to trigger the vulnerability.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Kibana 8.19.9, 9.1.9, 9.2.3
Vendor Advisory: https://discuss.elastic.co/t/kibana-8-19-9-9-1-9-and-9-2-3-security-update-esa-2025-35/384183
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Download the patched version from Elastic's website or repository. 2. Stop the Kibana service. 3. Backup configuration and data. 4. Install the updated version. 5. Restart the Kibana service. 6. Verify the version and functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Vega Visualizations
allTemporarily disable Vega visualization functionality to prevent exploitation
kibana.yml: Set 'xpack.vega.enabled: false'
Restart Kibana after configuration change
Implement Content Security Policy
allAdd CSP headers to block inline script execution and restrict script sources
Add to web server config or Kibana proxy: 'Content-Security-Policy: script-src 'self''
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Isolate Kibana instances behind authentication proxies or VPNs to restrict access to trusted users only
- Implement network segmentation to separate Kibana from sensitive backend systems and limit lateral movement potential
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Kibana version via web interface (Management > Stack Management > Overview) or API endpoint /api/statusCheck Version:
curl -X GET 'http://localhost:5601/api/status' | grep 'number'Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 8.19.9, 9.1.9, or 9.2.3 or higher. Test Vega visualizations for proper functionality without XSS payloads.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual Vega specification POST requests with script tags or JavaScript payloads
- Multiple failed authentication attempts following Vega visualization access
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing 'vega' or 'vega-lite' with encoded script payloads
- Outbound connections to suspicious domains from Kibana server
SIEM Query:
source="kibana.log" AND ("vega" OR "eval") AND ("script" OR "javascript:" OR "onerror=" OR "onload=")