CVE-2021-22140

Name: CVE-2021-22140
Creator: NVD / NIST
Published: 2021-05-13T18:15:09.157+00:00
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

HIGHCVSS 7.5/10EPSS 1.27%

Last modified Jun 17, 2026

CVE-2021-22140 is a high-severity vulnerability rated 7.5/10 on the CVSS scale. Elastic App Search versions after 7.11.0 and before 7.12.0 contain an XML External Entity Injection issue (XXE) in the App Search web crawler beta feature. Using this vector, an attacker whose website is being crawled by App Search could craft a malicious sitemap.xml to traverse the filesystem of the host running the instance and obtain sensitive files.. EPSS estimates a 1.27% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

Elastic App Search versions after 7.11.0 and before 7.12.0 contain an XML External Entity Injection issue (XXE) in the App Search web crawler beta feature. Using this vector, an attacker whose website is being crawled by App Search could craft a malicious sitemap.xml to traverse the filesystem of the host running the instance and obtain sensitive files.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

7.5/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

EPSS Probability

1.27%

66.1th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions
Elastic	Elastic App Search	>= 7.11.0, < 7.12.0

References

https://discuss.elastic.co/t/7-12-1-security-update/271433Vendor Advisory
https://discuss.elastic.co/t/7-12-1-security-update/271433Vendor Advisory

Timeline

Published: May 13, 2021
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-22140?

How severe is CVE-2021-22140?

CVE-2021-22140 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10 (HIGH severity). The EPSS model estimates a 1.27% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2021-22140?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

Are you affected by CVE-2021-22140?

Run a free Strix scan to check your systems for this vulnerability.

Scan your code now

Source: NVD / NIST