If firing up a piece of software creates an unauthenticated, unprotected (non-TLS) endpoint to read-write data, that's a loaded gun. That is PRECISELY the default behavior of ES.
ES has jacked around for years by making TLS and other standard security features premium. To that, I say this: Screw ES and their bullshit business model. Their business model is a leading cause to dumbasses dumping extremely sensitive PII data into a DB that is unprotected - those same folks aren't going to go the extra mile to secure the DB, either by licensing or 3rd party bolt-ons.
Thus, why it must be shipped secure by default. Anything less is a professional felony, in my eyes. Also, screw ES again, in-case I wasn't clear.
The fact that someone else down the chain should have known better is not a perfect defense. If that misuse was foreseeable and you didn’t do enough to prevent or discourage it, then you can still be held liable.
Your attitude is a symptom of a broader issue that plagues this industry: Indifference to risk*probability. If you don't ship software with "secure defaults" (depending on the threat/attack model), you essentially are handing out loaded shotguns, then blaming the "dumb" user when they inevitably point it at their foot and click the trigger. Easy solution: Don't hand out the gun loaded -- make the user do specific actions that enable the usage. Yeah, it creates some friction to first time deployment, but that's a secondary concern to having your freaking DB leaking all over the place.