Vault unauthenticated denial of service through complex json payload
Priority MEDIUM 40CWE-770Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-770.
Summary
A malicious user may submit a specially-crafted complex payload that otherwise meets the default request size limit which results in excessive memory and CPU consumption of Vault. This may lead to a timeout in Vault’s auditing subroutine, potentially resulting in the Vault server to become unresponsive. This vulnerability, CVE-2025-6203, is fixed in Vault Community Edition 1.20.3 and Vault Enterprise 1.20.3, 1.19.9, 1.18.14, and 1.16.25.
Why it matters now
Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00734 54th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Vault (HashiCorp): 1.21.0Vault Enterprise (HashiCorp): 1.21.2+1 more productRed Hat: 3 without a fix
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HashiCorp | Vault | 1.15.0 to before 1.21.0 | 1.21.0 | Patch available | CNA |
| HashiCorp | Vault Enterprise | 1.15.0 to before 1.21.2 | 1.21.2 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/hashicorp/vault (Go) | before 1.20.3 | 1.20.3 | Patch available | GHSA-8f82-53h8-2p34 |
- Vault VendorHashiCorp Affected 1.15.0 to before 1.21.0 Fixed in 1.21.0 Patch available CNA
- Vault Enterprise VendorHashiCorp Affected 1.15.0 to before 1.21.2 Fixed in 1.21.2 Patch available CNA
- github.com/hashicorp/vault (Go) Vendor— Affected before 1.20.3 Fixed in 1.20.3 Patch available GHSA-8f82-53h8-2p34
CPE configurations NVD · 3
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:hashicorp:vault:*:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:* | 1.15.0 to before 1.16.27 | Vulnerable | HashiCorp |
| cpe:2.3:a:hashicorp:vault:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:* | 1.15.0 to before 1.21.0 | Vulnerable | HashiCorp |
| cpe:2.3:a:hashicorp:vault:*:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:* | 1.18.0 to before 1.18.15; 1.19.0 to before 1.19.11; 1.20.0 to before 1.20.5 | Vulnerable | HashiCorp |
- cpe:2.3:a:hashicorp:vault:*:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:* Versions 1.15.0 to before 1.16.27 Vulnerable ·HashiCorp
- cpe:2.3:a:hashicorp:vault:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:* Versions 1.15.0 to before 1.21.0 Vulnerable ·HashiCorp
- cpe:2.3:a:hashicorp:vault:*:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:* Versions 1.18.0 to before 1.18.15; 1.19.0 to before 1.19.11; 1.20.0 to before 1.20.5 Vulnerable ·HashiCorp
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Vault (HashiCorp) Fixed in 1.21.0
- Fix · CNA Vault Enterprise (HashiCorp) Fixed in 1.21.2
- Fix · GHSA-8f82-53h8-2p34 github.com/hashicorp/vault (Go) Fixed in 1.20.3 Advisory →
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Trusted Artifact Signer | Affected | No fix yet |
| cert-manager Operator for Red Hat OpenShift | Affected | No fix yet |
| external secrets operator for Red Hat OpenShift - Tech Preview | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-6203
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-8f82-53h8-2p34
References
Advisory 2
More HashiCorp Vault vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-01904 Vault Cert Auth Method Did Not Correctly Validate Non-CA Certificates CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2022-19053 An issue was discovered in HashiCorp Vault and Vault Enterprise before 1.11.3. CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2020-17874 The official vault docker images before 0.11.6 contain a blank password for a root user. CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2020-10142 HashiCorp Vault and Vault Enterprise 1.4.0 and 1.4.1, when configured with the GCP… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-04407 Vault Vulnerable to Server-Side Request Forgery in ACME Challenge Validation via Attacker-Controlled DNS CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
- TI-2025-05421 Arbitrary Remote Code Execution via Plugin Catalog Abuse CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
Sources
- CVE-2025-6203 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-6203 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-8f82-53h8-2p34 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-6203 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences