CVE-2015-1427: Elasticsearch Groovy Scripting Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- Is it exploited?
Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 25 Mar 2022, 2,593 days after the CVE record was published.
- How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?
- 99.9%
EPSS score, percentile 100 of all scored records
- How severe?
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS v3.1 base score, from CISA's enrichment of the record
- What should I do?
CISA deadline 15 Apr 2022. Apply updates per vendor instructions.
- 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
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
The Groovy scripting engine in Elasticsearch allows remote attackers to bypass the sandbox protection mechanism and execute arbitrary shell commands.
Summary: CISA's KEV catalog, as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA added CVE-2015-1427 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 17 Feb 2015, 2,593 days before it was added to KEV.
- The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (Critical), taken from CISA's enrichment of the record.
- FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 99.9% (percentile 100), as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation active, automatable yes, technical impact total.
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 Groovy scripting engine in Elasticsearch before 1.3.8 and 1.4.x before 1.4.3 allows remote attackers to bypass the sandbox protection mechanism and execute arbitrary shell commands via a crafted script.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Weakness
CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record and the KEV entry.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 17 Feb 2015 | 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
- 72585
- elasticsearch-cve20151427-command-exec(100850)
- 20150211 Elasticsearch vulnerability CVE-2015-1427
- packetstormsecurity.com
- elasticsearch.com
- packetstormsecurity.com
- elastic.co
More exploited Elastic vulnerabilities
- CVE-2014-3120: Elasticsearch Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- CVE-2019-7609: Kibana Arbitrary Code Execution