Elasticsearch Audit Logging
Enable and configure security audit logging for Elasticsearch via the cluster settings API. Audit logs record security
events such as authentication attempts, access grants and denials, role changes, and API key operations — essential for
compliance and incident investigation.
For Kibana audit logging (saved object access, login/logout, space operations), see kibana-audit. For authentication
and API key management, see elasticsearch-authn. For roles and user management, see elasticsearch-authz. For
diagnosing security errors, see elasticsearch-security-troubleshooting.
For detailed API endpoints and event types, see references/api-reference.md.
Deployment note: Audit logging configuration differs across deployment types. See
Deployment Compatibility for details.
Jobs to Be Done
- Enable or disable security audit logging on a cluster
- Select which security events to record (authentication, access, config changes)
- Create filter policies to reduce audit log noise
- Query audit logs for failed authentication attempts
- Investigate unauthorized access or privilege escalation incidents
- Set up compliance-focused audit configuration
- Detect brute-force login patterns from audit data
- Configure audit output to an index for programmatic querying
Prerequisites
| Item | Description |
|---|
| Elasticsearch URL | Cluster endpoint (e.g. or a Cloud deployment URL) |
| Authentication | Valid credentials (see the elasticsearch-authn skill) |
| Cluster privileges | cluster privilege to update cluster settings |
| License | Audit logging requires a gold, platinum, enterprise, or trial license |
Prompt the user for any missing values.
Enable Audit Logging
Enable audit logging dynamically without a restart:
bash
curl -X PUT "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/_cluster/settings" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"persistent": {
"xpack.security.audit.enabled": true
}
}'
To disable, set
xpack.security.audit.enabled
to
. Verify current state:
bash
curl "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/_cluster/settings?include_defaults=true&flat_settings=true" \
<auth_flags> | jq '.defaults | with_entries(select(.key | startswith("xpack.security.audit")))'
Audit Output
Audit events can be written to two outputs. Both can be active simultaneously.
| Output | Setting value | Description |
|---|
| logfile | | Written to <ES_HOME>/logs/<cluster>_audit.json
|
| index | | Written to indices. Queryable via the API. |
Configure output via API
bash
curl -X PUT "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/_cluster/settings" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"persistent": {
"xpack.security.audit.enabled": true,
"xpack.security.audit.outputs": ["index", "logfile"]
}
}'
The
output is required for programmatic querying of audit events. The
output is useful for shipping to
external SIEM tools via Filebeat.
Note: On self-managed clusters,
xpack.security.audit.outputs
may require a static setting in
on older versions (pre-8.x). On 8.x+, prefer the cluster settings API.
Select Events to Record
Control which event types are included or excluded. By default, all events are recorded when audit is enabled.
Include specific events only
bash
curl -X PUT "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/_cluster/settings" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"persistent": {
"xpack.security.audit.logfile.events.include": [
"authentication_failed",
"access_denied",
"access_granted",
"anonymous_access_denied",
"tampered_request",
"run_as_denied",
"connection_denied"
]
}
}'
Exclude noisy events
bash
curl -X PUT "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/_cluster/settings" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"persistent": {
"xpack.security.audit.logfile.events.exclude": [
"access_granted"
]
}
}'
Excluding
significantly reduces log volume on busy clusters — use this when only failures matter.
Event types reference
| Event | Fires when |
|---|
| Credentials were rejected |
| User authenticated successfully |
| An authorized action was performed |
| An action was denied due to insufficient privileges |
| An unauthenticated request was rejected |
| A request was detected as tampered with |
| A node joined the cluster (transport layer) |
| A node connection was rejected |
| A run-as impersonation was authorized |
| A run-as impersonation was denied |
| A security setting was changed (role, user, API key, etc.) |
See references/api-reference.md for the complete event type list with field details.
Filter Policies
Filter policies let you suppress specific audit events by user, realm, role, or index without disabling the event type
globally. Multiple policies can be active — an event is logged only if no policy filters it out.
Ignore system and internal users
bash
curl -X PUT "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/_cluster/settings" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"persistent": {
"xpack.security.audit.logfile.events.ignore_filters": {
"system_users": {
"users": ["_xpack_security", "_xpack", "elastic/fleet-server"],
"realms": ["_service_account"]
}
}
}
}'
Ignore health-check traffic on specific indices
bash
curl -X PUT "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/_cluster/settings" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"persistent": {
"xpack.security.audit.logfile.events.ignore_filters": {
"health_checks": {
"users": ["monitoring-user"],
"indices": [".monitoring-*"]
}
}
}
}'
Filter policy fields
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|
| array[string] | Usernames to exclude (supports wildcards) |
| array[string] | Realm names to exclude |
| array[string] | Role names to exclude |
| array[string] | Index names or patterns to exclude (supports ) |
| array[string] | Action names to exclude (e.g. ) |
An event is filtered out if it matches all specified fields within a single policy.
Remove a filter policy
bash
curl -X PUT "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/_cluster/settings" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"persistent": {
"xpack.security.audit.logfile.events.ignore_filters.health_checks": null
}
}'
Query Audit Events
When the
output is enabled, audit events are stored in
indices and can be queried.
Search for failed authentication attempts
bash
curl -X POST "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/.security-audit-*/_search" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"query": {
"bool": {
"filter": [
{ "term": { "event.action": "authentication_failed" } },
{ "range": { "@timestamp": { "gte": "now-24h" } } }
]
}
},
"sort": [{ "@timestamp": { "order": "desc" } }],
"size": 50
}'
Search for access denied events on a specific index
bash
curl -X POST "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/.security-audit-*/_search" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"query": {
"bool": {
"filter": [
{ "term": { "event.action": "access_denied" } },
{ "term": { "indices": "logs-*" } },
{ "range": { "@timestamp": { "gte": "now-7d" } } }
]
}
},
"sort": [{ "@timestamp": { "order": "desc" } }],
"size": 20
}'
Search for security configuration changes
bash
curl -X POST "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/.security-audit-*/_search" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"query": {
"bool": {
"filter": [
{ "term": { "event.action": "security_config_change" } },
{ "range": { "@timestamp": { "gte": "now-7d" } } }
]
}
},
"sort": [{ "@timestamp": { "order": "desc" } }],
"size": 50
}'
This captures role creation/deletion, user changes, API key operations, and role mapping updates.
Count events by type and detect brute-force patterns
Use
aggregations on
(with
) to count events by type over a time window. To detect
brute-force attempts, aggregate
events by
with
. See
references/api-reference.md for full aggregation query examples.
Correlate with Kibana Audit Logs
Kibana has its own audit log covering application-layer events that Elasticsearch does not see (saved object CRUD,
Kibana logins, space operations). When a user performs an action in Kibana, Kibana makes requests to Elasticsearch on
the user's behalf. Both systems record the same
(passed via the
header), which serves as the
primary correlation key.
Prerequisite: Kibana audit must be enabled separately in
. See the
kibana-audit skill for setup
instructions, event types, and Kibana-specific filter policies.
Find ES audit events triggered by a Kibana action
Given a
from a Kibana audit event, search the ES audit index to see the underlying Elasticsearch operations:
bash
curl -X POST "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/.security-audit-*/_search" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"query": {
"bool": {
"filter": [
{ "term": { "trace.id": "'"${TRACE_ID}"'" } },
{ "range": { "@timestamp": { "gte": "now-24h" } } }
]
}
},
"sort": [{ "@timestamp": { "order": "asc" } }]
}'
Correlate by user and time window
When
is unavailable (e.g. direct API calls), fall back to user + time-window correlation:
bash
curl -X POST "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/.security-audit-*/_search" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"query": {
"bool": {
"filter": [
{ "term": { "user.name": "'"${USERNAME}"'" } },
{ "range": { "@timestamp": { "gte": "now-5m" } } }
]
}
},
"sort": [{ "@timestamp": { "order": "asc" } }]
}'
Secondary correlation fields:
,
, and
.
Unified querying
Ship Kibana audit logs to Elasticsearch via Filebeat (see
kibana-audit for the Filebeat config) so that both
(ES) and
(Kibana) indices can be searched together in a single multi-index query
filtered by
.
Examples
Enable audit logging for compliance
Request: "Enable audit logging and record all failed access and authentication events."
bash
curl -X PUT "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/_cluster/settings" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"persistent": {
"xpack.security.audit.enabled": true,
"xpack.security.audit.logfile.events.include": [
"authentication_failed",
"access_denied",
"anonymous_access_denied",
"run_as_denied",
"connection_denied",
"tampered_request",
"security_config_change"
]
}
}'
This captures all denial and security change events while excluding high-volume success events.
Investigate a suspected unauthorized access attempt
Request: "Someone may have tried to access the
index. Check the audit logs."
bash
curl -X POST "${ELASTICSEARCH_URL}/.security-audit-*/_search" \
<auth_flags> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"query": {
"bool": {
"filter": [
{ "terms": { "event.action": ["access_denied", "authentication_failed"] } },
{ "wildcard": { "indices": "secrets-*" } },
{ "range": { "@timestamp": { "gte": "now-48h" } } }
]
}
},
"sort": [{ "@timestamp": { "order": "desc" } }],
"size": 100
}'
Review
,
, and
in the results to identify the actor and pattern.
Reduce audit noise on a busy cluster
Request: "Audit logs are too large. Filter out monitoring traffic and successful reads."
Exclude
from event types, then add a filter policy for monitoring users and indices. See
Filter Policies for the full syntax.
Guidelines
Prefer index output for programmatic access
Enable the
output to make audit events queryable. The
output is better for shipping to external SIEM
tools via Filebeat but cannot be queried through the Elasticsearch API.
Start restrictive, then widen
Begin with failure events only (
,
,
). Add success events
only when needed — they generate high volume.
Use filter policies instead of disabling events
Suppress specific users or indices with filter policies rather than excluding entire event types.
Monitor audit index size
Set up an ILM policy to roll over and delete old
indices. A 30-90 day retention is typical.
Enable Kibana audit for full coverage
For application-layer events (saved object access, Kibana logins, space operations), enable Kibana audit logging as
well. See the
kibana-audit skill for setup. Use
to correlate — see
Correlate with Kibana Audit Logs above.
Avoid superuser credentials
Use a dedicated admin user or API key with
privileges. Reserve
for emergency recovery only.
Deployment Compatibility
| Capability | Self-managed | ECH | Serverless |
|---|
| ES audit via cluster settings | Yes | Yes | Not available |
| ES logfile output | Yes | Via Cloud UI | Not available |
| ES index output | Yes | Yes | Not available |
| Filter policies via cluster settings | Yes | Yes | Not available |
| Query | Yes | Yes | Not available |
ECH notes: ES audit is configured via the cluster settings API. Logfile output is accessible through the Cloud
console deployment logs. Index output works the same as self-managed.
Serverless notes:
- Audit logging is not user-configurable on Serverless. Security events are managed by Elastic as part of the platform.
- If a user asks about auditing on Serverless, direct them to the Elastic Cloud console or their account team.