How severe is CVE-2015-1427?

No CVSS score has been assigned to CVE-2015-1427 yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2015-1427?

CVE-2015-1427 affects the following packages: org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (Maven), org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2015-1427?

Update org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch to 1.3.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2015-1427 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2015-1427 in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2015-1427 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

Is CVE-2015-1427 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 7 known exploit references for CVE-2015-1427, including 2 documented proof-of-concept exploits on Exploit-DB and 4 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2015-1427?

CVE-2015-1427 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 99.9%, placing it in the 100th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Is CVE-2015-1427 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2015-1427 (Elasticsearch Groovy Scripting Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2022-03-25. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-04-15. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

Is there exploit tooling available for CVE-2015-1427?

A Nuclei detection template exists for CVE-2015-1427, meaning automated scanners can fingerprint it. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was CVE-2015-1427 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2015-1427 was published on May 14, 2022 and was last updated on December 5, 2024. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

☕ Maven

CISA KEV · ACTIVELY EXPLOITED

CVE-2015-1427 — elasticsearch

CVE-2015-1427 is a security vulnerability in org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-25) — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. A fix is available for org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Improper Access Control in Elasticsearch

Published

May 14, 2022

Updated

Dec 5, 2024

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

7 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 23, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

Actively exploited in the wild

Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-03-25. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2022-04-15.
CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for CVE-2015-1427.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

99.9%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs100th percentile — riskier than 100% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

Real-World Exposure

2 pkgs affected

☕org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch☕org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

The Groovy scripting engine in Elasticsearch before 1.3.8 and 1.4.x before 1.4.3 allows remote attackers to bypass the sandbox protection mechanism and execute arbitrary shell commands via a crafted script.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch`	all versions	1.3.8`org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch:1.3.8`
☕Maven	`org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch`	≥ 1.4.0&&< 1.4.3	1.4.3`org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch:1.4.3`

Affected Products

2 products · 3 configurations

Application

elasticsearchelastic

≥ 1.4.0 && < 1.4.3

range

Application

fuseredhat

1 version

1.0.0

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

EDB-36337remotelinux✓ Verified

ElasticSearch - Remote Code Execution

by Xiphos Research Ltd · Mar 11, 2015

Exploit-DB Source

EDB-36415remotejava✓ Verified

ElasticSearch - Search Groovy Sandbox Bypass (Metasploit)

by Metasploit · Mar 16, 2015

Exploit-DB Source

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch to 1.3.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2015-1427 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

How to detect CVE-2015-1427

A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:

nuclei -id cve-2015-1427 -u https://target

Template: ElasticSearch - Remote Code Execution
Severity: high
Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected system.
Remediation: Apply the latest security patches and updates provided by ElasticSearch to fix the deserialization vulnerability.

Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (pikpikcu), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.

Fixing This On Your OS

If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.

Red HatImportant

RHSA-2017:0868Red Hat JBoss A-MQ 6.3

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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