Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This CVE affects the floragunn Search Guard plugin for Kibana before 6.x-16. When Kibana uses a configured basePath, the login page can allow URL injection in login redirects. The main business concern is user trust: attackers may be able to abuse redirect behavior around authentication, especially on exposed Kibana portals.
Executive priority
Treat this as a targeted hygiene fix for Kibana environments rather than an emergency broad-internet incident. Prioritize externally reachable Kibana systems and any environment where login-page trust is important for operations or regulated access.
Technical view
The issue is a URL injection flaw in Search Guard Kibana plugin login redirect handling before version 6.x-16, specifically when basePath is set. The supplied sources do not provide CVSS, CWE, detailed exploit mechanics, or broad affected-version data beyond the pre-6.x-16 statement.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to Kibana deployments using the floragunn Search Guard Kibana plugin before 6.x-16 with basePath configured. Internet-facing Kibana login pages have higher operational concern than internal-only deployments.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. The issue appears tied to login redirect handling and could support redirect abuse, but the provided evidence is too sparse to claim credential theft or compromise by itself.
Researcher notes
The record is sparse: no CVSS, CWE, or detailed affected product metadata is supplied. Analysis should stay anchored to the described condition: Search Guard Kibana plugin before 6.x-16, basePath set, login redirect URL injection.
Mitigation direction
- Identify Kibana deployments using the floragunn Search Guard plugin.
- Confirm whether installed plugin versions are earlier than 6.x-16.
- Review the Search Guard 6.x-16 changelog and PR for vendor-confirmed remediation details.
- Upgrade to 6.x-16 or a supported later release where compatible.
- Limit external access to affected Kibana login pages until remediation is complete.
- Monitor vendor guidance for any backport or configuration-specific advice.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Kibana plugin versions across production and staging environments.
- Check whether Kibana basePath is configured on each deployment.
- Review login and proxy logs for unusual redirect targets.
- Confirm upgraded instances no longer run pre-6.x-16 plugin builds.
- Validate authentication redirects in a controlled test environment after upgrade.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2018-20698 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://docs.search-guard.com/latest/changelog-kibana-6.x-16CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/floragunncom/search-guard-kibana-plugin/pull/140CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.