CVE-2025-54996

OpenBao Root Namespace Operator May Elevate Token Privileges

Description

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.

Category

7.2
CVSS
Severity: High
CVSS 3.1 •
EPSS 0.02%
Vendor Advisory github.com
Affected: openbao openbao
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2025-54996?
CVE-2025-54996 has been scored as a high severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2025-54996?
To fix CVE-2025-54996, make sure you are using an up-to-date version of the affected component(s) by checking the vendor release notes. As for now, there are no other specific guidelines available.
Is CVE-2025-54996 being actively exploited in the wild?
As for now, there are no information to confirm that CVE-2025-54996 is being actively exploited. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~0% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
What software or system is affected by CVE-2025-54996?
CVE-2025-54996 affects openbao openbao.
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