OpenBao Root Namespace Operator May Elevate Token Privileges
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Privilege escalation
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-269.
Summary
OpenBao exists to provide a software solution to manage, store, and distribute sensitive data including secrets, certificates, and keys. In versions 2.3.1 and below, accounts with access to highly-privileged identity entity systems in root namespaces were able to increase their scope directly to the root policy. While the identity system allowed adding arbitrary policies, which in turn could contain capability grants on arbitrary paths, the root policy was restricted to manual generation using unseal or recovery key shares. The global root policy was not accessible from child namespaces. This issue is fixed in version 2.3.2. To workaround this vulnerability, use of denied_parameters in any policy which has access to the affected identity endpoints (on identity entities) may be sufficient to prohibit this type of attack.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| openbao | openbao | before 2.3.2 | 2.3.2 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/openbao/openbao (Go) | 0.1.0 to before 2.3.2 | 2.3.2 | Patch available | GHSA-vf84-mxrq-crqc |
| — | github.com/openbao/openbao (Go) | before 0.0.0-20250806193240-9b0b5d4f345f | 0.0.0-20250806193240-9b0b5d4f345f | Patch available | GHSA-vf84-mxrq-crqc |
- openbao Vendoropenbao Affected before 2.3.2 Fixed in 2.3.2 Patch available CNA
- github.com/openbao/openbao (Go) Vendor— Affected 0.1.0 to before 2.3.2 Fixed in 2.3.2 Patch available GHSA-vf84-mxrq-crqc
- github.com/openbao/openbao (Go) Vendor— Affected before 0.0.0-20250806193240-9b0b5d4f345f Fixed in 0.0.0-20250806193240-9b0b5d4f345f Patch available GHSA-vf84-mxrq-crqc
Remediation
- Fix · CNA openbao (openbao) Fixed in 2.3.2
- Fix · GHSA-vf84-mxrq-crqc github.com/openbao/openbao (Go) Fixed in 2.3.2 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-vf84-mxrq-crqc github.com/openbao/openbao (Go) Fixed in 0.0.0-20250806193240-9b0b5d4f345f Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-54996
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-vf84-mxrq-crqc
References
Advisory 3
Other 5
- https://github.com/openbao/openbao/pull/1627
- https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.3.2
- https://github.com/openbao/openbao/commit/9b0b5d4f345fdfb1065956f042b12cbd86cd6e0f
- https://discuss.hashicorp.com/t/hcsec-2025-13-vault-root-namespace-operator-may-elevate-token-privileges/76032
- https://github.com/openbao/openbao
More Openbao vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-01904 Vault Cert Auth Method Did Not Correctly Validate Non-CA Certificates CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-28381 OpenBao has Decompression Bomb via Unbounded Copy in OCI Plugin Extraction (DoS) CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.5
- TI-2026-26136 OpenBao lacks user confirmation for OIDC direct callback mode CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.6
- TI-2026-26137 OpenBao has Reflected XSS in its OIDC authentication error message CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.4
- TI-2025-34701 OpenBao: Privileged Operator May Execute Code on the Underlying Host CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2025-36685 OpenBao vulnerable to denial of service via malicious JSON request processing CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2025-54996 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-54996 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-vf84-mxrq-crqc · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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