---
id: CVE-2026-72648
title: >-
  Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable
  (CWE-526) in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK) can lead to information
  disclosure via Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data (CAPEC-37)
summary: >-
  Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable
  (CWE-526) in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK) can lead to information
  disclosure via Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data (CAPEC-37). When ECK
  reconciles a Fleet Server r…
severity: medium
cvss: 6.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N'
cwe:
  - CWE-526
vendor: elastic
product: elastic_cloud_on_kubernetes
affected:
  - 'elastic_cloud_on_kubernetes >= 3.0.0, < 3.5.0'
patched:
  - elastic_cloud_on_kubernetes 3.5.0
published: '2026-08-13'
updated: '2026-09-04'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72648'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elastic-cloud-on-kubernetes-3-5-0-security-update-esa-2026-113/389493
    label: security@elastic.co
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.00426
epssPercentile: 0.34109
ingestedAt: '2026-09-05T18:43:14.157Z'
---

## Overview

Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable (CWE-526) in Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes (ECK) can lead to information disclosure via Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data (CAPEC-37). When ECK reconciles a Fleet Server resource that authenticates to Elasticsearch with a service account token, the token is written into the generated workload specification in cleartext rather than being referenced from the Kubernetes Secret that ECK maintains for the other credentials on the same path. Any principal able to read workload specifications in the affected namespace can therefore read a live Elasticsearch credential, even when Kubernetes RBAC does not grant that principal access to Secrets.

## Affected

- `elastic_cloud_on_kubernetes >= 3.0.0, < 3.5.0`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `elastic_cloud_on_kubernetes 3.5.0`