CVE-2026-103006: Uncontrolled Recursion in Elasticsearch Leading to Denial of Service
Uncontrolled Recursion (CWE-674) in Elasticsearch can lead to Denial of Service via a specially crafted, deeply nested request submitted to the aggregation feature of the search API. Elasticsearch contains an uncontrolled recursion weakness in its search aggregation processing. An authenticated user with read access to a single index can submit a specially crafted request containing deeply nested aggregation definitions. Processing this request triggers unbounded recursive execution that exhausts the server process's available resources, causing the affected node to terminate. The node does not recover automatically and requires manual intervention to restore service.
Affected Software
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can exploit this issue?
An authenticated user with read access to a single index can submit the malicious request. No higher-level administrative access is described as necessary.
What service impact should operators expect if exploitation succeeds?
The affected Elasticsearch node can exhaust its available process resources and terminate. It does not recover automatically, so manual intervention is required to restore service.
Which API functionality is involved in the attack?
The attack is submitted through the search API's aggregation feature, using deeply nested aggregation definitions.