Field and document level security in Elasticsearch - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What is the output of this Elasticsearch query with field level security?

Given the following role definition that restricts access to only the title and author fields, what fields will be returned in the search results?

Elasticsearch

{
  "indices": [
    {
      "names": ["books"],
      "privileges": ["read"],
      "field_security": {
        "grant": ["title", "author"]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Search query:
GET /books/_search
{
  "query": { "match_all": {} }
}

A No fields will be returned because the query does not specify fields.

B All fields will be returned because the query matches all documents.

C Only the <code>title</code> field will be returned because <code>author</code> is ignored.

D Only the fields <code>title</code> and <code>author</code> will be returned in each document.

💡 Hint

Field level security controls which fields are visible in the search results.

The role restricts access to only the title and author fields, so only these fields appear in the search results regardless of the query.

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What documents are returned with this document level security query?

Given a role with document level security defined as { "term": { "status": "published" } }, what documents will the user see when running GET /articles/_search?

Elasticsearch

{
  "indices": [
    {
      "names": ["articles"],
      "privileges": ["read"],
      "query": {
        "term": { "status": "published" }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Search query:
GET /articles/_search
{
  "query": { "match_all": {} }
}

A No documents will be returned because the query is overridden.

B All documents will be returned because the query matches all.

C Only documents where <code>status</code> is <code>published</code> will be returned.

D Documents with any <code>status</code> except <code>published</code> will be returned.

💡 Hint

Document level security filters documents based on the query in the role.

The role's document level security query restricts access to only documents where status is published, so only those documents appear in results.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this role not restrict access to the salary field as expected?

A role is defined to deny access to the salary field using except in field level security, but users still see the salary field in search results. What is the likely cause?

Elasticsearch

{
  "indices": [
    {
      "names": ["employees"],
      "privileges": ["read"],
      "field_security": {
        "except": ["salary"]
      }
    }
  ]
}

A The <code>except</code> parameter is not supported; only <code>grant</code> works for field security.

B The <code>salary</code> field is misspelled in the <code>except</code> list.

C The role must also include a document level security query to hide <code>salary</code>.

D The <code>except</code> parameter requires a wildcard pattern, not a field name.

💡 Hint

Check the official Elasticsearch documentation for supported field security parameters.

Elasticsearch field level security supports only the grant parameter to specify allowed fields. The except parameter is not valid, so it is ignored and all fields are returned.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Which role definition syntax correctly applies document level security to only show documents with department equal to sales?

Choose the correct JSON snippet for the role's indices section to enforce this document level security.

A

{
  "names": ["employees"],
  "privileges": ["read"],
  "document_level_security": {
    "term": { "department": "sales" }
  }
}

B

{
  "names": ["employees"],
  "privileges": ["read"],
  "query": {
    "term": { "department": "sales" }
  }
}

C

{
  "names": ["employees"],
  "privileges": ["read"],
  "filter": {
    "term": { "department": "sales" }
  }
}

D

{
  "names": ["employees"],
  "privileges": ["read"],
  "query": {
    "match": { "department": "sales" }
  }
}

💡 Hint

Document level security uses the query field inside the indices section.

The correct syntax uses the query key with a valid Elasticsearch query. Option B uses term query correctly. Option B uses an invalid key. Option B uses an unsupported key. Option B uses match which is valid but less precise than term for exact matches.

🚀 Application

expert

How to combine field and document level security to restrict access to salary field and only active employees?

You want to create a role that: - Allows reading only name and position fields (hide salary) - Shows only documents where status is active Which role definition correctly implements both restrictions?

A

{
  "indices": [
    {
      "names": ["employees"],
      "privileges": ["read"],
      "field_security": { "grant": ["name", "position"] },
      "query": { "term": { "status": "active" } }
    }
  ]
}

B

{
  "indices": [
    {
      "names": ["employees"],
      "privileges": ["read"],
      "field_security": { "grant": ["name", "position", "salary"] },
      "query": { "term": { "status": "active" } }
    }
  ]
}

C

{
  "indices": [
    {
      "names": ["employees"],
      "privileges": ["read"],
      "field_security": { "except": ["salary"] },
      "query": { "match": { "status": "active" } }
    }
  ]
}

D

{
  "indices": [
    {
      "names": ["employees"],
      "privileges": ["read"],
      "field_security": { "grant": ["name", "position"] },
      "query": { "term": { "status": "inactive" } }
    }
  ]
}

💡 Hint

Use grant for allowed fields and query for document filtering.

Option A correctly grants only name and position fields and filters documents with status equal to active. Option A uses unsupported except. Option A grants salary which should be hidden. Option A filters for inactive status, which is incorrect.