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Security Bulletin: Vault Token Leaked to Backends via Authorization: Bearer Passthrough Header

Security Bulletin


Summary

If a Vault auth mount is configured to pass through the "Authorization" header, and the "Authorization" header is used to authenticate to Vault, Vault forwarded the Vault token to the auth plugin backend. Fixed in 2.0.0, 1.21.5, 1.20.10, and 1.19.16.

Vulnerability Details

CVEID: CVE-2026-4525
DESCRIPTION: Due to a flaw in the request processing logic, Vault did not strip the Vault token from the forwarded header. Vault will now strip the Vault token used in the request to the auth plugin backends when making a request, even if the auth method is configured to pass through the header.
CWE: CWE-201: Insertion of Sensitive Information Into Sent Data
CVSS Source: HashiCorp Inc.
CVSS Base score: 7.5
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)

Affected Products and Versions

Affected Product(s)Version(s)
Vault Community Editionaffected from 0.11.2 up to 2.0.0
Vault Enterpriseaffected from 0.11.2 up to 2.0.0, unaffected from 1.19.16, 1.20.10, 1.21.5

Remediation/Fixes

Customers should evaluate the risk associated with this issue and consider upgrading to Vault Community Edition 2.0.0 or Vault Enterprise 2.0.0, 1.21.5, 1.20.10, and 1.19.16. Please refer to Upgrading Vault for general guidance.

Get Notified about Future Security Bulletins

References

Off

Link to HashiCorp Security Bulletin: https://discuss.hashicorp.com/t/hcsec-2026-07-vault-may-expose-tokens-to-auth-plugins-due-to-incorrect-header-sanitization/77344

Acknowledgement

This issue was identified and reported by Oleh Konko of 1seal.

Change History

16 Apr 2026: Initial Publication

*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:
12 May 2026

Initial Publish date:
16 April 2026

UID

ibm17269895