CVE-2026-72648
CVE-2026-72648 is a medium-severity vulnerability with a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-526.
Key facts
- Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 6.5)
- EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (20th percentile)
- Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
- Weakness: CWE-526
- Published:
- Last modified:
Description
Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable (CWE-526) in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK) can lead to information disclosure via Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data (CAPEC-37). When ECK reconciles a Fleet Server resource that authenticates to Elasticsearch with a service account token, the token is written into the generated workload specification in cleartext rather than being referenced from the Kubernetes Secret that ECK maintains for the other credentials on the same path. Any principal able to read workload specifications in the affected namespace can therefore read a live Elasticsearch credential, even when Kubernetes RBAC does not grant that principal access to Secrets.
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-72648?
- Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable (CWE-526) in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK) can lead to information disclosure via Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data (CAPEC-37). When ECK reconciles a Fleet Server resource that authenticates to Elasticsearch with a service account token, the token is written into the generated workload specification in cleartext rather than being referenced from the Kubernetes Secret that ECK maintains for the other credentials on the same path. Any principal able to read workload specifications in the affected namespace can therefore read a live Elasticsearch credential, even when Kubernetes RBAC does not grant that principal access to Secrets.
- How severe is CVE-2026-72648?
- CVE-2026-72648 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity none, and availability none.
- Is CVE-2026-72648 being actively exploited?
- It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (20th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-72648?
- Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
- When was CVE-2026-72648 published?
- CVE-2026-72648 was published on 2026-08-13.
References
Other CWE-526 vulnerabilities
- CVE-2026-45370 — High (CVSS 7.7): python-utcp is the python implementation of UTCP. Prior to 1.1.3, _prepare_environment() in…
- CVE-2023-5720 — High (CVSS 7.7): A flaw was found in Quarkus, where it does not properly sanitize artifacts created using the Gradle plugin, allowing…
- CVE-2025-28381 — High (CVSS 7.5): A credential leak in OpenC3 COSMOS before v6.0.2 allows attackers to access service credentials as environment…
- CVE-2026-40153 — High (CVSS 7.4): PraisonAIAgents is a multi-agent teams system. Prior to 1.5.128, the execute_command function in shell_tools.py calls…
- CVE-2024-2700 — High (CVSS 7.0): A vulnerability was found in the quarkus-core component. Quarkus captures local environment variables from the Quarkus…
- CVE-2023-43029 — Medium (CVSS 6.8): IBM Storage Virtualize vSphere Remote Plug-in 1.0 and 1.1 could allow a remote user to obtain sensitive credential…