Fix error message when changing the password for a user in the file realm #127621
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… user attempts to update the password for the `elastic` superuser in a cloud deployment. At the heart of the issue is the difference in how the `elastic` superuser is implemented on self-hosted deployments vs. managed cloud deployments. Elasticsearch has two distinct security realms: `file` and `native`. On a self-hosted deployment, the `elastic` superuser is represented as a document in the `.security` index, whereas in a cloud deployment `elastic` is defined in the `ES_PATH_CONF/users` and `ES_PATH_CONF/user_roles` files placed on each node in the cluster. The TransportChangePasswordAction impl is designed to update the password for users in the `native` realm specifically, and a failure on cloud to change the password for `elastic` using the Change Password API fails with the error that the user does not exist. The solution here leverages `fileUserPasswdStore.userExists` to do a low cost check on whether the request username belongs to the `file` realm and will exit early with an informative error message if that is the case.
ankit--sethi
added
>bug
:Security/Security
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Hi @ankit--sethi, I've created a changelog YAML for you. |
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Pinging @elastic/es-security (Team:Security) |
…uestions around CI/CD are resolved.
…' into feature/misleading-error-message
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Hi @ankit--sethi, I've updated the changelog YAML for you. |
tvernum
reviewed
May 8, 2025
| Optional<Realm> realm = realms.stream().filter(t -> FileRealmSettings.TYPE.equalsIgnoreCase(t.type())).findAny(); | ||
| if (user == null && realm.isPresent()) { | ||
| // we should check if this request is mistakenly trying to reset a file realm user | ||
| FileRealm fileRealm = (FileRealm) realm.get(); |
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Why only file realms? Couldn't we just do this for all realms?
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fair point, maybe we can? I'm gonna take a closer look to see if there are any gotchas to doing that.
…' into feature/misleading-error-message
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This PR addresses #113535 - a confusing error message when the user attempts to update the password for the
elasticsuperuser in a cloud deployment.At the heart of the issue is the difference in how the
elasticsuperuser is implemented on self-hosted deployments vs. managed cloud deployments. Elasticsearch has two distinct security realms:fileandnative. On a self-hosted deployment, theelasticsuperuser is represented as a document in the.securityindex (placing it in thenativerealm), whereas in a cloud deploymentelasticis defined in theES_PATH_CONF/usersandES_PATH_CONF/user_rolesfiles installed on each node in the cluster (placing it in thefilerealm).The
TransportChangePasswordActionimpl is designed to update the password for users in thenativerealm specifically, and on cloud an attempt to change the password forelasticusing the Change Password API fails with the error that the user does not exist. This is misleading since the user exists but is simply coming from thefilerealm.The solution here first checks if the user is not found in the native realm - if that is the case it checks the file realm in case the user is present there. This case is provided a new error message. Other cases end in a "user not found" state or proceed to invoke
changePassword.