Vulnerability report

Active exploitation observed Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2014-3120

Elasticsearch

Elastic / Elasticsearch

Watch CVE-2014-3120 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 8.1 · High
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Observed in sensors
EPSS
88.6%
First observed
27 Jun 2026
Last observed
19 Oct 2026

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2014-3120 is a vulnerability affecting Elastic Elasticsearch. The default configuration in Elasticsearch before 1.2 enables dynamic scripting, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary MVEL expressions...

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian sensors observed exploitation attempts with confirmed confidence. Listed in CISA KEV.

Who is affected?

Elastic / Elasticsearch.

What should we do?

Patch immediately, validate internet-facing exposure, and monitor for matching requests.

Overview

Elasticsearch

The default configuration in Elasticsearch before 1.2 enables dynamic scripting, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary MVEL expressions and Java code via the source parameter to _search.

NOTE: this only violates the vendor's intended security policy if the user does not run Elasticsearch in its own independent virtual machine.

Published
28 Jul 2014
Exploitation Reported
25 Mar 2022
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None

Tags

cisa java nuclei_scanner metasploit elasticsearch

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 25 Mar 2022

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Active exploitation observed

Previdian sensor

First observed 27 Jun 2026

Previdian first observed exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability in our honeypot sensors.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 07 Jul 2014

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
CISA First 2022-03-25 00:00 UTC
Previdian Sensors 2026-07-24 17:13 UTC

Operational indicators for this CVE are listed under Detection.

Sensor telemetry

First-party evidence of exploitation activity

Previdian sensors recorded exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability. The cards and chart show volume, unique attackers, and daily activity.

10

Attempts observed

10

Unique attacker IPs

10

Attacker countries

AF · CH · CN · DE · FR · HU · JP · PH · US · YE

8

Sensors observed

CVE-2014-3120 exploitation attempts over the last 78 days

Daily events observed by Previdian sensors

Updated 23 Oct 2026

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7 Aug 23 Aug 8 Sep 24 Sep 23 Oct

First observed 27 Jun 2026 · Last observed 19 Oct 2026

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Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
1
5
0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Attacker IP Indicators

Attacker IP indicators observed · available in Pro and Enterprise.

Sensor-derived attacker IP indicators are available to Pro and Enterprise accounts under Detection and through the Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/elasticsearch/script_mvel_rce.rb 28 Apr 2025
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2014/CVE-2014-3120.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

8.1 High

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

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

EPSS

88.6%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Improper Access Control CWE-284

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 8.1 High

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

CVSS v2.0 6.8 Medium

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

ElasticSearch v1.1.1/1.2 RCE

nuclei · Created Unknown

script_mvel_rce

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2014-3120

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 09:30 UTC

    Indicators of compromise added (42)

    Indicators of compromise recorded

  2. 09:30 UTC

    Observed by Previdian sensors

    Evidence-backed exploitation signal

  3. 15:02 UTC

    Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  4. 15:02 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  5. 00:00 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  6. 00:00 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  7. 19:00 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  8. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

Start 14-day Pro trial Read API docs
  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2014-3120

Sample API response 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2014-3120",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 8.1,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.88559,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": true
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 10, "sensors": 8 }
}