Introduction
Sensitive data exfiltration and command execution are possible for attackers with admin access to Elastic Cloud Enterprise due to a critical flaw in its template engine. Organizations relying on ECE for managing Elasticsearch clusters must act to prevent privilege abuse and lateral movement within their infrastructure.
Elastic Cloud Enterprise (ECE) is Elastic's orchestration platform for deploying and managing Elasticsearch clusters in private and hybrid environments. Elastic is a leading provider of search and observability solutions, with a global customer base and a significant footprint in enterprise infrastructure.
Technical Information
CVE-2025-37729 is a critical vulnerability in Elastic Cloud Enterprise stemming from improper neutralization of special elements in the Jinjava template engine. Jinjava is a Java-based template engine that processes dynamic content using a syntax similar to Jinja2. In ECE, certain configuration fields or templates are processed using Jinjava. If user-controlled input is not properly sanitized, an attacker with admin privileges can inject malicious Jinjava expressions. When these are evaluated by the backend, the attacker can:
- Exfiltrate sensitive information available to the application context
- Execute arbitrary commands on the underlying system (depending on the template engine's capabilities and context)
The vulnerability is classified under CWE-1336 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements Used in a Template Engine). Exploitation requires authenticated admin access, which means attackers must first obtain or compromise admin credentials. No public code snippets or proof of concept are available at this time.
Affected Systems and Versions
- Elastic Cloud Enterprise versions prior to 3.8.2 and 4.0.2 are affected
- All deployments running ECE before these versions are vulnerable if admin access can be obtained
- The vulnerability is present in configurations where user input is processed by Jinjava templates
Vendor Security History
Elastic has a history of addressing vulnerabilities in its products, including previous template injection and privilege escalation issues. The company maintains a mature security program, publishes regular security advisories, and coordinates patch releases. Their response to vulnerabilities is generally prompt, with clear communication and patch availability at disclosure.