Kibana Flaws Could Allow Server-Side Request Forgery and Cross-Site Scripting Attacks

Elastic has released a critical security advisory addressing origin validation errors in Kibana that expose systems to Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) attacks.

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-37734, affects multiple versions of the popular data visualization and exploration platform, prompting immediate patching across all affected deployments worldwide.

Vulnerability Overview

The security flaw stems from improper origin validation in Kibana’s Observability AI Assistant component.

Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting forged Origin HTTP headers to bypass security checks, enabling unauthorized server-side requests.

The vulnerability allows threat actors to access internal systems and services that should remain protected from external access.

This type of attack is particularly concerning because it can lead to data exfiltration, unauthorized access to resources, and potential lateral movement within compromised networks.

The Observability AI Assistant processes these headers without sufficient validation, creating a significant window of opportunity for exploitation.

Organizations running Kibana 8.12.0 through 8.19.6, 9.1.0 through 9.1.6, and version 9.2.0 are at immediate risk.

However, the impact is limited to deployments specifically using the Observability AI Assistant feature.

According to Elastic’s official security announcement, the vulnerability has a CVSS score of 4.3, which is classified as Medium severity.

The attack requires low privileges and no user interaction, making it relatively accessible to potential threat actors with basic network access.

This low barrier to entry significantly increases the risk profile for unpatched systems.

Elastic has released security updates addressing this vulnerability across three major releases. Organizations should immediately upgrade to version 8.19.7, 9.1.7, or 9.2.1, depending on their current deployment version.

Notably, Elastic Cloud Serverless users are already protected, as the vulnerability was patched before public disclosure due to Elastic’s continuous deployment model.

For organizations unable to upgrade immediately, Elastic recommends temporarily disabling the Observability AI Assistant as a mitigation until patches can be applied.

Administrators should also audit access logs and monitor for suspicious origin headers or unusual server-side requests that might indicate exploitation attempts.

This proactive approach helps identify potential breaches before significant damage occurs.

Security teams should prioritize upgrading affected Kibana instances to patched versions immediately.

The combination of low attack complexity and medium severity rating makes this vulnerability a high-priority patch for any organization running vulnerable Kibana versions.

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