OpenBao up to 2.2.x Setting disable_unauthed_rekey_endpoints denial of service

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as problematic has been reported in OpenBao up to 2.2.x. This impacts the function disable_unauthed_rekey_endpoints of the component Setting Handler. Performing a manipulation results in denial of service. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-52894. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in OpenBao up to 2.2.x. This affects the function disable_unauthed_rekey_endpoints of the component Setting Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a denial of service vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-404. The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

OpenBao exists to provide a software solution to manage, store, and distribute sensitive data including secrets, certificates, and keys. OpenBao before v2.3.0 allowed an attacker to perform unauthenticated, unaudited cancellation of root rekey and recovery rekey operations, effecting a denial of service. In OpenBao v2.2.0 and later, manually setting the configuration option `disable_unauthed_rekey_endpoints=true` allows an operator to deny these rarely-used endpoints on global listeners. A patch is available at commit fe75468822a22a88318c6079425357a02ae5b77b. In a future OpenBao release communicated on OpenBao's website, the maintainers will set this to `true` for all users and provide an authenticated alternative. As a workaround, if an active proxy or load balancer sits in front of OpenBao, an operator can deny requests to these endpoints from unauthorized IP ranges.

The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-52894 since 06/20/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1499 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 2.3.0 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch fe75468822a22a88318c6079425357a02ae5b77b is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Name

• OpenBao

Version

• 2.0
• 2.1
• 2.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Product: https://github.com/openbao/openbao/

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Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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