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VaultApplication · Hashicorp

CVE-2020-35453

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-12-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.5.6 / 1.6.1 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
HashiCorp Vault Enterprise’s Sentinel EGP policy feature incorrectly allowed requests to be processed in parent and sibling namespaces. Fixed in 1.5.6 and 1.6.1.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

HashiCorp Vault Enterprise's Sentinel EGP (Enterprise Governance Policy) feature contained a logic flaw that incorrectly permitted requests to be processed in parent and sibling namespaces when namespace isolation should have blocked them. This allowed cross-namespace access that the policies were intended to prevent, potentially bypassing security boundaries in multi-tenant Vault deployments.

MitigationUpgrade Vault Enterprise to version 1.5.6 or 1.6.1, and audit existing Sentinel EGP policies to verify namespace isolation is functioning as intended post-upgrade.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
VaultApplication
Affected:>= 1.5.0, < 1.5.6>= 1.6.0, < 1.6.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Vault Enterprise edition is in use
    Run 'vault status' or check the Vault startup logs. The Sentinel EGP feature is only available in Vault Enterprise editions, not Vault Community.
    Affected if The environment is running Vault Enterprise with Sentinel EGP policies enabled.
  2. Identify the installed Vault version
    Run 'vault version' or check the Vault server logs at startup. Note the full version string (e.g., 1.5.0, 1.6.0).
    Affected if The version falls within the affected ranges: >= 1.5.0 and < 1.5.6, OR >= 1.6.0 and < 1.6.1.
  3. Verify namespace isolation is configured
    List existing namespaces with 'vault namespace list' and review the namespace hierarchy using 'vault namespace lookup <namespace-path>' to identify parent-child relationships.
    Affected if Multiple namespaces are defined and request traffic flows between parent and sibling namespaces.
  4. Review Sentinel EGP policies in use
    List EGP policies with 'vault list sys/policies/egp' and inspect each policy definition with 'vault read sys/policies/egp/<policy-name>'. Look for policies that include namespace isolation rules (paths restricted by namespace).
    Affected if EGP policies with namespace-based restrictions exist and are enforced on request paths.
  5. Test cross-namespace request behavior
    If you have access to multiple namespaces, submit a request from a child or sibling namespace that should be blocked by an EGP policy. Observe whether the request is incorrectly allowed to proceed despite namespace isolation rules.
    Affected if Requests from parent or sibling namespaces bypass EGP policy enforcement when they should be denied based on namespace isolation rules.

The environment is affected if Vault Enterprise is running a version between 1.5.0-1.5.5 or 1.6.0, Sentinel EGP policies with namespace isolation rules are defined, and cross-namespace requests are incorrectly permitted.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.5.6 / 1.6.1 or later
Fixed in 1.5.61.6.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Vault Enterprise to version 1.5.6 or 1.6.1, and audit existing Sentinel EGP policies to verify namespace isolation is functioning as intended post-upgrade.

Fix this in Vault Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-35453 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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