{"id":"CVE-2017-8438","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2017-8438","generatedAt":"2026-10-28T19:50:50.734Z","title":"Elastic X-Pack Security versions 5.0.0 to 5.4.0 contain a privilege escalation bug in the run_as functionality.","description":"Elastic X-Pack Security versions 5.0.0 to 5.4.0 contain a privilege escalation bug in the run_as functionality. This bug prevents transitioning into the specified user specified in a run_as request. If a role has been created using a template that contains the _user properties, the behavior of run_as will be incorrect. Additionally if the run_as user specified does not exist, the transition will not happen.","published":"2017-06-05T14:29:00.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-17T01:26:22.000Z","status":"Modified","sourceIdentifier":"security@elastic.co","cvss":{"version":"3.0","score":8.8,"severity":"HIGH","vector":"CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":["CWE-284","CWE-269"],"affected":["elastic/x-pack"],"epss":{"score":0.01025,"percentile":0.63401,"date":"2026-10-27","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":0,"verified":false,"firstPublished":null,"source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[]},"verdict":{"level":"high","text":"High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (1.03%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elastic-stack-5-4-1-and-5-3-3-security-updates/87952","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"security@elastic.co"},{"url":"https://www.elastic.co/blog/elasticsearch-5-4-1-and-5-3-3-released","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"security@elastic.co"},{"url":"https://www.elastic.co/community/security","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"security@elastic.co"},{"url":"https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elastic-stack-5-4-1-and-5-3-3-security-updates/87952","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.elastic.co/blog/elasticsearch-5-4-1-and-5-3-3-released","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.elastic.co/community/security","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-8438","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}