CVE-2014-3120: Elasticsearch Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- Is it exploited?
Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 25 Mar 2022, 2,797 days after the CVE record was published.
- How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?
- 88.6%
EPSS score, percentile 99.8 of all scored records
- How severe?
- 8.1 High
CVSS v3.1 base score, from CISA's enrichment of the record
- What should I do?
Required action (CISA), due 15 Apr 2022: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.
- Which versions are affected?
Not stated. The CVE record gives vendor and product as “n/a” and the version as “unspecified”.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
What to do
Required action, set by CISA
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
CISA due date for this action: 15 April 2022.
Advisories and patches
The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.
Linked from CISA's catalog entry
Affected products and versions
The CVE record does not name affected products or versions: vendor and product are “n/a” and the version is “unspecified”.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
About this vulnerability
Elasticsearch enables dynamic scripting, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary MVEL expressions and Java code.
Summary: CISA's KEV catalog, as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA added CVE-2014-3120 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 25 Mar 2022.
- CISA's ransomware flag for this entry is "Unknown": no evidence of ransomware use in the catalog, which is not proof of none.
- The due date CISA sets for the required action is 15 Apr 2022.
- The CVE record was published on 28 Jul 2014, 2,797 days before it was added to KEV.
- The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (High), taken from CISA's enrichment of the record.
- FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 88.6% (percentile 99.8), as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact partial.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Description
The default configuration in Elasticsearch before 1.2 enables dynamic scripting, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary MVEL expressions and Java code via the source parameter to _search. NOTE: this only violates the vendor's intended security policy if the user does not run Elasticsearch in its own independent virtual machine.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Weakness
- CWE-284: Improper Access Control
CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record and the KEV entry.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 28 Jul 2014 | CVE record published |
| 25 Mar 2022 | Added to CISA KEV |
| 15 Apr 2022 | CISA due date for the required action |
| 22 Oct 2025 | CVE record last updated |
References
More exploited Elastic vulnerabilities
- CVE-2015-1427: Elasticsearch Groovy Scripting Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- CVE-2019-7609: Kibana Arbitrary Code Execution