---
title: Elasticsearch security disabled
description: Describes what AutoOps detects and surfaces with the Elasticsearch security disabled insight: Elasticsearch security is turned off, so the cluster lacks authentication and role-based access control.
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/autoops-insights/tree/main/elasticsearch/elasticsearch_security_disabled
products:
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise
  - Elastic Cloud Hosted
  - Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes
  - Elasticsearch
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud Hosted: Generally available
  - Elastic Cloud on Kubernetes: Generally available
  - Elastic Cloud Enterprise: Generally available
  - Self-managed Elastic deployments: Generally available
---

# Elasticsearch security disabled
Elasticsearch security is turned off, so the cluster lacks authentication and role-based access control. Unprotected clusters are easier targets for unauthorized access.
<note>
  For a complete list of insights, refer to [AutoOps insights](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/autoops-insights/tree/main/elasticsearch).
</note>


## Insight details


| Field     | Value           |
|-----------|-----------------|
| Component | Elasticsearch   |
| Severity  | Medium          |
| Scope     | Cluster         |
| Domains   | security-safety |


## Example: What you might see in AutoOps

The following is an example of what you might see when this insight is triggered. Real insights use live data and links from your deployment or cluster.

### Elasticsearch security is turned off


#### What was detected

`xpack.security.enabled` is false. Authentication and role-based access control are not enabled on the cluster.

#### Recommendations

<note>
  AutoOps shows different recommendations depending on how their conditions match your deployment or cluster.
</note>

<dropdown title="Enable X-Pack basic security">
  **Condition**: Always shown for this insight.Set `xpack.security.enabled: true` in `elasticsearch.yml`, then restart the nodes.
</dropdown>


#### Background and impact

When Elasticsearch security is off, clients can reach the cluster without authenticating, and there is no role-based access control for APIs and indices.
That leaves the cluster open to unauthorized reads, writes, and administrative actions if the network path is reachable. Security features (including Basic) provide authentication, authorization, and related controls on supported Elastic Stack versions.
Until security is enabled and users and roles are configured, any network client that can reach the cluster can use it without credentials.