CVE-2025-55001: openbao Improper Neutralization of Whitespace

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2025-55001 is a medium (CVSS 6.5) Improper Neutralization of Whitespace vulnerability in openbao. EPSS estimates a 0.23% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 13% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 09-08-2025
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 11-08-2025
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

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, OpenBao allowed the assignment of policies and MFA attribution based upon entity aliases, chosen by the underlying auth method. When the username_as_alias=true parameter in the LDAP auth method was in use, the caller-supplied username was used verbatim without normalization, allowing an attacker to bypass alias-specific MFA requirements. This issue was fixed in version 2.3.2. To work around this, remove all usage of the username_as_alias=true parameter and update any entity aliases accordingly.

• CWE-156Improper Neutralization of WhitespaceThe product receives input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could be interpreted as whitespace when they are sent to a downstream component.