CVE-2021-22144: Elasticsearch Denial of Service Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-3393-hvrj-w7v3
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CVSS 5.7
CWE-674
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-22144 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.7) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion) affecting Elasticsearch libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves denial of service in elasticsearch. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 6.8.17, 7.13.3.

CVE-2021-22144 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-22144
GHSA Identifier GHSA-3393-hvrj-w7v3
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.7
CWE Classification CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion
Affected Product Elasticsearch
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.7

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

Attack Vector Adjacent (AV:A)
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-2021-22144

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

org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch fixed: 6.8.17 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.elasticsearch</groupId>
    <artifactId>elasticsearch</artifactId>
    <version>6.8.17</version>
</dependency>
org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch fixed: 7.13.3 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.elasticsearch</groupId>
    <artifactId>elasticsearch</artifactId>
    <version>7.13.3</version>
</dependency>
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 -Dincludes=org.elasticsearch

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2021-22144, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.elasticsearch

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Elasticsearch in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 6.8.17), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.elasticsearch 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 Elasticsearch, 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

In Elasticsearch versions before 7.13.3 and 6.8.17 an uncontrolled recursion vulnerability that could lead to a denial of service attack was identified in the Elasticsearch Grok parser. A user with the ability to submit arbitrary queries to Elasticsearch could create a malicious Grok query that will crash the Elasticsearch node.

CVE-2021-22144 Affected Elasticsearch Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
6.8.177.13.3
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch
maven/org.elasticsearch/elasticsearch
Maven
< 6.8.17
6.8.17
org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch
maven/org.elasticsearch/elasticsearch
Maven
≥ 7.0.0-alpha1
< 7.13.3
7.13.3

References

NVD — CVE-2021-22144 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22144
Elasticsearch Security Information SECURITY
https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-7-13-3-and-6-8-17-security-update/278100
Elasticsearch Security Information SECURITY
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210827-0006
Elasticsearch Security Information SECURITY
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-22144?
CVE-2021-22144 is a security vulnerability in Elasticsearch involving Denial of Service in Elasticsearch under CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion.
Which Elasticsearch versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 6.8.17, 7.13.3 across affected packages: org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch.
What version fixes CVE-2021-22144?
Upgrading to 6.8.17, 7.13.3 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is elasticsearch affected?
Yes, org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch is affected in releases prior to 6.8.17, 7.13.3. Upgrade your dependency to 6.8.17, 7.13.3 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-22144?
CVE-2021-22144 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.7 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-22144?
CVE-2021-22144 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-2021-22144?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.elasticsearch'. 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-3393-hvrj-w7v3",
  "modified" : "2021-08-02T19:21:25Z",
  "published" : "2021-08-09T20:41:17Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-22144" ],
  "summary" : "Denial of Service in Elasticsearch",
  "details" : "In Elasticsearch versions before 7.13.3 and 6.8.17 an uncontrolled recursion vulnerability that could lead to a denial of service attack was identified in the Elasticsearch Grok parser. A user with the ability to submit arbitrary queries to Elasticsearch could create a malicious Grok query that will crash the Elasticsearch node.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "6.8.17"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "7.0.0-alpha1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "7.13.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22144"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-7-13-3-and-6-8-17-security-update/278100"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210827-0006"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-674" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-08-02T19:21:25Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-07-26T12:15:00Z"
  }
}