CVE-2017-8438

HIGHNVD 8.88.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 8.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: HIGH) published 2022-05-13. NVD baseline CVSS 8.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
8.8
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 1%CVSS: 8.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

Elastic X-Pack Security versions 5.0.0 to 5.4.0 contain a privilege escalation bug in the run_as functionality. This bug prevents transitioning into the specified user specified in a run_as request. If a role has been created using a template that contains the _user properties, the behavior of run_as will be incorrect. Additionally if the run_as user specified does not exist, the transition will not happen.

CVSS v3
8.8
EG Score
8.8(medium)
EPSS
59.4%
KEV
Not listed

Published

June 5, 2017

Last Modified

May 13, 2026

Advisory Details (3)

Auto-updated May 22, 2026
No patch confirmed yet.
generic

Product Security at Elastic | Elastic

https://www.elastic.co/community/security
generic

Elasticsearch 5.4.1 and 5.3.3 released | Elastic Blog

https://www.elastic.co/blog/elasticsearch-5-4-1-and-5-3-3-released
generic

Elastic Stack 5.4.1 and 5.3.3 Security updates - Security Announcements - Discuss the Elastic Stack

https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elastic-stack-5-4-1-and-5-3-3-security-updates/87952

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 10× in last 7d / 45× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-05 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-02 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-28 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
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  19. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
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  21. 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
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  23. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
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  1. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-10 22:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-10 13:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  51. 2026-05-22 12:56 UTCEG score recompute
  52. 2026-05-22 12:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-05-21 22:40 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-05-21 22:40 UTCEPSS rescore
  55. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  56. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
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  63. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  64. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
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  70. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  71. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  72. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2017-8438?
CVE-2017-8438 is a high vulnerability published on June 5, 2017. Elastic X-Pack Security versions 5.0.0 to 5.4.0 contain a privilege escalation bug in the runas functionality. This bug prevents transitioning into the specified user specified in a runas request. If a role has been created using a template that contains the user properties, the behavior of runas…
When was CVE-2017-8438 disclosed?
CVE-2017-8438 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on June 5, 2017, with the most recent update on May 13, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2017-8438 actively exploited?
CVE-2017-8438 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 59.4% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-8438?
CVE-2017-8438 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2017-8438?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2017-8438, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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