Critical Kibana Vulnerability Exposes Systems to Code Execution, Patch Now
Summary:
Software company Elastic has addressed a critical vulnerability in Kibana, a widely used data visualization platform for Elasticsearch, that could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems by uploading a specially crafted file and sending malicious HTTP requests. Tracked as CVE-2025-25012, this vulnerability stems from prototype pollution, potentially enabling malicious actors to gain unauthorized access, execute commands, manipulate data, or take full control of a compromised system. The flaw is particularly dangerous because it can be exploited with minimal prerequisites, especially if the attacker has basic permissions within Kibana. Researchers have noted that different versions of Kibana exhibit varying degrees of susceptibility to this security flaw:
Kibana is a widely used open-source data visualization and analytics platform that many organizations rely on for real-time monitoring, security analytics, and business intelligence capabilities. Organizations that rely on Kibana to monitor infrastructure performance, detect security threats, or analyze business metrics are especially vulnerable to such attacks. By exploiting this vulnerability, attackers could gain unauthorized access to systems, execute malicious code, and potentially manipulate or steal sensitive data. This could lead to severe consequences, including data breaches, system compromises, and significant operational disruptions, ultimately undermining an organization's ability to maintain secure and effective business operations. Given Kibana’s extensive use in various industries for data analysis and monitoring, the exploitation of CVE-2025-25012 could have far-reaching implications for data security, system integrity, and overall stability.
Suggested Corrections:
Although no exploitation attempts have been observed in the wild, organizations should promptly upgrade to the latest release of Kibana, version 8.17.3, which addresses CVE-2025-25012. If upgrading is not currently feasible, Elastic suggests applying a mitigation strategy which involves disabling the Integration Assistant by adding the configuration setting below:
xpack.integration_assistant.enabled: false.
In general, organizations should review and restrict user permissions, monitor system logs for unusual activity, and implement network segmentation to limit the impact of potential compromises.
Link(s):
https://socradar.io/kibana-cve-2025-25012-system-code-execution/
Software company Elastic has addressed a critical vulnerability in Kibana, a widely used data visualization platform for Elasticsearch, that could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems by uploading a specially crafted file and sending malicious HTTP requests. Tracked as CVE-2025-25012, this vulnerability stems from prototype pollution, potentially enabling malicious actors to gain unauthorized access, execute commands, manipulate data, or take full control of a compromised system. The flaw is particularly dangerous because it can be exploited with minimal prerequisites, especially if the attacker has basic permissions within Kibana. Researchers have noted that different versions of Kibana exhibit varying degrees of susceptibility to this security flaw:
- Versions 8.15.0 through 8.17.3: In these releases, the vulnerability can be exploited by users with the Viewer role, broadening the range of potential entry points for attackers.
- Versions 8.17.1 and 8.17.2: In these versions, the risk is confined to users with elevated privileges, such as fleet-all, integrations-all, and actions:execute-advanced-connectors.
Kibana is a widely used open-source data visualization and analytics platform that many organizations rely on for real-time monitoring, security analytics, and business intelligence capabilities. Organizations that rely on Kibana to monitor infrastructure performance, detect security threats, or analyze business metrics are especially vulnerable to such attacks. By exploiting this vulnerability, attackers could gain unauthorized access to systems, execute malicious code, and potentially manipulate or steal sensitive data. This could lead to severe consequences, including data breaches, system compromises, and significant operational disruptions, ultimately undermining an organization's ability to maintain secure and effective business operations. Given Kibana’s extensive use in various industries for data analysis and monitoring, the exploitation of CVE-2025-25012 could have far-reaching implications for data security, system integrity, and overall stability.
Suggested Corrections:
Although no exploitation attempts have been observed in the wild, organizations should promptly upgrade to the latest release of Kibana, version 8.17.3, which addresses CVE-2025-25012. If upgrading is not currently feasible, Elastic suggests applying a mitigation strategy which involves disabling the Integration Assistant by adding the configuration setting below:
xpack.integration_assistant.enabled: false.
In general, organizations should review and restrict user permissions, monitor system logs for unusual activity, and implement network segmentation to limit the impact of potential compromises.
Link(s):
https://socradar.io/kibana-cve-2025-25012-system-code-execution/