Headline
GHSA-2q8q-8fgw-9p6p: OpenBao LDAP MFA Enforcement Bypass When Using Username As Alias
Impact
OpenBao allows assignment of policies and MFA attribution based upon entity aliases, chosen by the underlying auth method. When using the username_as_alias=true parameter in the LDAP auth method, the caller-supplied username is used verbatim without normalization, allowing an attacker to bypass alias-specific MFA requirements.
Patches
OpenBao v2.3.2 will patch this issue.
Workarounds
LDAP methods are only vulnerable if using username_as_alias=true. Remove all usage of this parameter and update any entity aliases accordingly.
References
This issue was disclosed to HashiCorp and is the OpenBao equivalent of the following tickets:
- https://discuss.hashicorp.com/t/hcsec-2025-20-vault-ldap-mfa-enforcement-bypass-when-using-username-as-alias/76092
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-6013
Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.