CVE-2026-72668: Unintended Proxy or Intermediary ('Confused Deputy') in Kibana Leading to Privilege Escalation
Unintended Proxy or Intermediary ('Confused Deputy') (CWE-441) in Kibana Agent Builder can lead to privilege escalation. A non-administrative user able to edit a shared agent could cause privileged operations to be carried out under the identity of a higher-privileged user who subsequently interacts with that agent. Where the same user can also author workflows, this can extend to full administrative control of Kibana and of the Elasticsearch cluster.
Affected Software
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is exposed to this issue?
Environments are exposed when a non-administrative user can edit a shared agent and a higher-privileged user later interacts with that agent. The impact can reach the Elasticsearch cluster if that same non-administrative user can also author workflows.
What does an attacker need to exploit it?
The attacker needs non-administrative access with permission to edit a shared agent. Exploitation also requires a higher-privileged user to subsequently interact with the modified agent.
When can this result in full administrative control?
It can extend to full administrative control of Kibana and the Elasticsearch cluster when the user who can edit the shared agent can also author workflows.