diff --git a/server/src/main/resources/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/security.policy b/server/src/main/resources/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/security.policy
index 3e05179c08db0..8ffc0d0eea47d 100644
--- a/server/src/main/resources/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/security.policy
+++ b/server/src/main/resources/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/security.policy
@@ -153,4 +153,6 @@ grant {
   permission java.io.FilePermission "/sys/fs/cgroup/memory", "read";
   permission java.io.FilePermission "/sys/fs/cgroup/memory/-", "read";
 
+  // system memory on Linux systems affected by JDK bug (#66629)
+  permission java.io.FilePermission "/proc/meminfo", "read";
 };