CVE-2026-72636: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-mmpx-jcfp-p3wg
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CVSS 6.5
CWE-674
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-72636 is a MODERATE (CVSS 6.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-72636 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-72636
GHSA Identifier GHSA-mmpx-jcfp-p3wg
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 6.5
CWE Classification CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 6.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-72636

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-72636, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion, where the product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Uncontrolled Recursion (CWE-674) in the Elasticsearch wildcard matching helper can lead to a denial of service via Excessive Allocation (CAPEC-130). The matcher used to resolve wildcard patterns against names is implemented recursively and had no bound on recursion depth or on the total number of match operations performed. A search request containing a wildcard pattern with a large number of wildcard groups, evaluated against a sufficiently long name, exhausts the thread stack. Elasticsearch treats a stack overflow as an unrecoverable condition and shuts the node down, so the request terminates the affected node rather than failing gracefully.

References

NVD — CVE-2026-72636 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72636
Software Security Information SECURITY
https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-8-19-20-9-4-5-security-update-esa-2026-133/389499

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-72636?
CVE-2026-72636 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2026-72636?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-72636?
CVE-2026-72636 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-72636?
CVE-2026-72636 is classified under CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion (The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-72636?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-mmpx-jcfp-p3wg",
  "modified" : "2026-08-13T21:36:07Z",
  "published" : "2026-08-13T21:36:07Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-72636" ],
  "details" : "Uncontrolled Recursion (CWE-674) in the Elasticsearch wildcard matching helper can lead to a denial of service via Excessive Allocation (CAPEC-130). The matcher used to resolve wildcard patterns against names is implemented recursively and had no bound on recursion depth or on the total number of match operations performed. A search request containing a wildcard pattern with a large number of wildcard groups, evaluated against a sufficiently long name, exhausts the thread stack. Elasticsearch treats a stack overflow as an unrecoverable condition and shuts the node down, so the request terminates the affected node rather than failing gracefully.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72636"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-8-19-20-9-4-5-security-update-esa-2026-133/389499"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-674" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-08-13T20:17:24Z"
  }
}