Security Bulletin
Summary
Vault and Vault Enterprise’s (“Vault”) AWS Auth method may be susceptible to authentication bypass if the role of the configured bound_principal_iam is the same across AWS accounts, or uses a wildcard. This vulnerability, CVE-2025-11621, is fixed in Vault Community Edition 1.21.0 and Vault Enterprise 1.21.0, 1.20.5, 1.19.11, and 1.16.27.
Vulnerability Details
CVEID: CVE-2025-11621
DESCRIPTION: Vault and Vault Enterprise’s (“Vault”) AWS Auth method may be susceptible to authentication bypass if the role of the configured bound_principal_iam is the same across AWS accounts, or uses a wildcard. This vulnerability, CVE-2025-11621, is fixed in Vault Community Edition 1.21.0 and Vault Enterprise 1.21.0, 1.20.5, 1.19.11, and 1.16.27.
CWE: CWE-288: Authentication Bypas Using an Alternate Path or Channel
CVSS Source: HashiCorp Inc.
CVSS Base score: 8.1
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N)
Affected Products and Versions
Affected Product(s) | Version(s) |
Vault Enterprise | 0.6.0 up to 1.20.4, 1.19.10, 1.18.15, and 1.16.26 |
Vault Community Edition | 0.6.0 up to 1.20.4 |
Remediation/Fixes
Customers using Vault should evaluate the risk associated with this issue and consider upgrading to Vault Community Edition 1.21.0 or Vault Enterprise 1.21.0, 1.20.5, 1.19.11, and 1.16.27.
See Vault’s Upgrading documentation for general guidance on this process. documentation for general guidance on this process.
Customers unable to update should review accounts connected to Vault’s AWS auth method for roles with name collisions, and consider removing wildcards from bound_principal_iam.
Get Notified about Future Security Bulletins
References
Link to HashiCorp bulletin
Vault’s AWS Auth method maintains a cache of active AWS clients, but this cache did not validate the account ID when querying the cache. If accountID metadata is solely referenced in the bound_principal_arn with wildcards and a user has an active session, an attacker with an identical role name (or one that collides based on the wildcards) within a different account can authenticate. This can lead to sensitive data exposure and potential opportunities for additional privilege escalation.
A similar issue exists within Vault’s EC2 authentication method, where the corresponding cache lookup validates only ami_id but not the account ID. This may allow for cross-account privilege escalation, where an attacker can bypass intended authorization controls by authenticating from a different account.
Acknowledgement
This issue was identified by Pavlos Karakalidis who reported it to HashiCorp.
*The CVSS Environment Score is customer environment specific and will ultimately impact the Overall CVSS Score. Customers can evaluate the impact of this vulnerability in their environments by accessing the links in the Reference section of this Security Bulletin.
Disclaimer
According to the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) is an "industry open standard designed to convey vulnerability severity and help to determine urgency and priority of response." IBM PROVIDES THE CVSS SCORES ""AS IS"" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. CUSTOMERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF ANY ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL SECURITY VULNERABILITY. In addition to other efforts to address potential vulnerabilities, IBM periodically updates the record of components contained in our product offerings. As part of that effort, if IBM identifies previously unidentified packages in a product/service inventory, we address relevant vulnerabilities regardless of CVE date. Inclusion of an older CVEID does not demonstrate that the referenced product has been used by IBM since that date, nor that IBM was aware of a vulnerability as of that date. We are making clients aware of relevant vulnerabilities as we become aware of them. "Affected Products and Versions" referenced in IBM Security Bulletins are intended to be only products and versions that are supported by IBM and have not passed their end-of-support or warranty date. Thus, failure to reference unsupported or extended-support products and versions in this Security Bulletin does not constitute a determination by IBM that they are unaffected by the vulnerability. Reference to one or more unsupported versions in this Security Bulletin shall not create an obligation for IBM to provide fixes for any unsupported or extended-support products or versions.
Document Location
Worldwide
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Document Information
Modified date:
21 May 2026
UID
ibm17249188