diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6d59505ce5b1e..9078ba5fcbe73 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 
 ### Changed
 - Create generic DocRequest to better categorize ActionRequests ([#18269](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/18269)))
+- Fix permissions issue with _update_by_query API that requires permission for indices:data/read/scroll/clear ([#17250](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/17250)))
 
 ### Dependencies
 - Bump `com.google.code.gson:gson` from 2.12.1 to 2.13.1 ([#17923](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/17923), [#18266](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/18266))
diff --git a/modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/reindex/TransportUpdateByQueryAction.java b/modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/reindex/TransportUpdateByQueryAction.java
index 0039002c23f07..490ccbc86f3ed 100644
--- a/modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/reindex/TransportUpdateByQueryAction.java
+++ b/modules/reindex/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/reindex/TransportUpdateByQueryAction.java
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@
 import org.opensearch.cluster.ClusterState;
 import org.opensearch.cluster.service.ClusterService;
 import org.opensearch.common.inject.Inject;
+import org.opensearch.common.util.concurrent.ThreadContext;
+import org.opensearch.common.util.concurrent.ThreadContextAccess;
 import org.opensearch.core.action.ActionListener;
 import org.opensearch.core.common.io.stream.Writeable;
 import org.opensearch.index.mapper.IdFieldMapper;
@@ -85,25 +87,37 @@ public TransportUpdateByQueryAction(
 
     @Override
     protected void doExecute(Task task, UpdateByQueryRequest request, ActionListener<BulkByScrollResponse> listener) {
-        BulkByScrollTask bulkByScrollTask = (BulkByScrollTask) task;
-        BulkByScrollParallelizationHelper.startSlicedAction(
-            request,
-            bulkByScrollTask,
-            UpdateByQueryAction.INSTANCE,
-            listener,
-            client,
-            clusterService.localNode(),
-            () -> {
-                ClusterState state = clusterService.state();
-                ParentTaskAssigningClient assigningClient = new ParentTaskAssigningClient(
-                    client,
-                    clusterService.localNode(),
-                    bulkByScrollTask
-                );
-                new AsyncIndexBySearchAction(bulkByScrollTask, logger, assigningClient, threadPool, scriptService, request, state, listener)
-                    .start();
-            }
-        );
+        final ThreadContext threadContext = threadPool.getThreadContext();
+        try (ThreadContext.StoredContext ignore = threadContext.stashContext()) {
+            ThreadContextAccess.doPrivilegedVoid(threadContext::markAsSystemContext);
+            BulkByScrollTask bulkByScrollTask = (BulkByScrollTask) task;
+            BulkByScrollParallelizationHelper.startSlicedAction(
+                request,
+                bulkByScrollTask,
+                UpdateByQueryAction.INSTANCE,
+                listener,
+                client,
+                clusterService.localNode(),
+                () -> {
+                    ClusterState state = clusterService.state();
+                    ParentTaskAssigningClient assigningClient = new ParentTaskAssigningClient(
+                        client,
+                        clusterService.localNode(),
+                        bulkByScrollTask
+                    );
+                    new AsyncIndexBySearchAction(
+                        bulkByScrollTask,
+                        logger,
+                        assigningClient,
+                        threadPool,
+                        scriptService,
+                        request,
+                        state,
+                        listener
+                    ).start();
+                }
+            );
+        }
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/modules/reindex/src/main/plugin-metadata/plugin-security.policy b/modules/reindex/src/main/plugin-metadata/plugin-security.policy
index ebb446fb6bd11..2ab059029833b 100644
--- a/modules/reindex/src/main/plugin-metadata/plugin-security.policy
+++ b/modules/reindex/src/main/plugin-metadata/plugin-security.policy
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 grant {
    // reindex opens socket connections using the rest client
    permission java.net.SocketPermission "*", "connect";
+   permission org.opensearch.secure_sm.ThreadContextPermission "markAsSystemContext";
 };
 
 grant codeBase "${codebase.opensearch-rest-client}" {