CVE-2026-72648

Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes Leading to Information Disclosure

Published Aug 13, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 6.5 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable (CWE-526) in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK) can lead to information disclosure via Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data (CAPEC-37). When ECK reconciles a Fleet Server resource that authenticates to Elasticsearch with a service account token, the token is written into the generated workload specification in cleartext rather than being referenced from the Kubernetes Secret that ECK maintains for the other credentials on the same path. Any principal able to read workload specifications in the affected namespace can therefore read a live Elasticsearch credential, even when Kubernetes RBAC does not grant that principal access to Secrets.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Elastic elastic Cloud On Kubernetes
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:elastic:elastic_cloud_on_kubernetes:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Elastic elastic Cloud On Kubernetes
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Elastic
Elastic eck Operator
Vendors & Products Elastic
Elastic eck Operator
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable (CWE-526) in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK) can lead to information disclosure via Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data (CAPEC-37). When ECK reconciles a Fleet Server resource that authenticates to Elasticsearch with a service account token, the token is written into the generated workload specification in cleartext rather than being referenced from the Kubernetes Secret that ECK maintains for the other credentials on the same path. Any principal able to read workload specifications in the affected namespace can therefore read a live Elasticsearch credential, even when Kubernetes RBAC does not grant that principal access to Secrets.
Title Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes Leading to Information Disclosure
Weaknesses CWE-526
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
elastic
Published
Updated
Aug 13, 2026, 8:29 PM
Reserved
Aug 10, 2026, 11:17 AM
Status
Analyzed
Published
Aug 13, 2026, 8:17 PM
Modified
Sep 4, 2026, 8:16 PM