Vulnerability · Published Nov 3, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2026-46487GeoNetwork: ACL bypass on Elasticsearch search when request body omits query field
High 7.5
In plain English
A high-severity missing authorization in core-geonetwork from geonetwork. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.5% (higher than 40% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
GeoNetwork is a catalog application to manage spatially referenced resources. From 4.0.0-alpha.1 until 4.2.16 and 4.4.11, the Elasticsearch-backed search proxy can skip GeoNetwork's access-control filter injection when a client request has an omitted query field. The request is then forwarded to Elasticsearch without group visibility, draft exclusion, record ownership, or portal-specific filtering. An unauthenticated remote attacker can use the affected public search API to retrieve the full indexed contents of metadata records that should not be publicly visible. This issue is fixed in versions 4.2.16 and 4.4.11.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maven | org.geonetwork-opensource:geonetwork | no fix listed | GHSA-582q-v28r-7cxr |
| Maven | org.geonetwork-opensource:geonetwork | 4.2.16 | GHSA-582q-v28r-7cxr |
| Maven | org.geonetwork-opensource:geonetwork | 4.4.11 | GHSA-582q-v28r-7cxr |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| geonetwork | core-geonetwork | >= 4.0.0-alpha.1, <= 4.0.6-0>= 4.2.0, < 4.2.16>= 4.4.0, < 4.4.11 |
Weakness: CWE-862 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
References
- https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/security/advisories/GHSA-582q-v28r-7cxr x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/commit/1916412d38999f2eff68bad2dfccd69340d20f3f x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/commit/6c756c63cd1fa942f3832d99c64380c69c5e8be9 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/releases/tag/4.2.16 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/releases/tag/4.4.11 x_refsource_MISC