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VaultApplication · Hashicorp

CVE-2022-25243

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.8.9 / 1.9.4 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
"Vault and Vault Enterprise 1.8.0 through 1.8.8, and 1.9.3 allowed the PKI secrets engine under certain configurations to issue wildcard certificates to authorized users for a specified domain, even if the PKI role policy attribute allow_subdomains is set to false. Fixed in Vault Enterprise 1.8.9 and 1.9.4.

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 · high confidence

The Vault PKI secrets engine contained a logic flaw where it would issue wildcard certificates for a specified domain even when the role policy attribute allow_subdomains was explicitly set to false, allowing authorized users to bypass intended domain restrictions.

MitigationUpgrade Vault to version 1.8.9, 1.9.4, or later. Additionally, audit existing PKI role configurations and review recently issued certificates for any unauthorized wildcard certificates that may have been issued during the vulnerable period.

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:>= 1.8.0, < 1.8.9>= 1.9.0, < 1.9.4

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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. Check installed Vault version
    Run 'vault version' from the Vault CLI or check the /version endpoint on the Vault server. Compare the version number against the affected ranges: >=1.8.0 and <1.8.9, or >=1.9.0 and <1.9.4.
    Affected if The installed version falls within the vulnerable version ranges.
  2. Identify PKI roles with allow_subdomains disabled
    List all PKI roles using 'vault list pki/roles' (or the appropriate mount path), then for each role run 'vault read pki/roles/<role_name>' to inspect the allow_subdomains parameter.
    Affected if A role exists where allow_subdomains is set to false.
  3. Audit issued certificates for unauthorized wildcards
    Query the certificate issuer or list issued certificates using the PKI API: 'vault list pki/roles/<role_name>/certs' or via the /pki_int/issue endpoint if using an intermediate CA. Examine each certificate's Subject Alternative Name (SAN) for wildcard entries (*.example.com).
    Affected if Any certificate was issued with a wildcard SAN from a role where allow_subdomains was configured as false.
  4. Review PKI role configuration for wildcard patterns
    Examine the allowed_domains or allowed_other_sans parameters in each PKI role configuration using 'vault read pki/roles/<role_name>'. Look for roles that explicitly forbid subdomains but may have been used to issue certificates.
    Affected if Roles exist with allow_subdomains=false and the role was used to issue certificates during the vulnerable version period.

A user is affected if their Vault version is within 1.8.0-1.8.9 or 1.9.0-1.9.4 AND they have PKI roles with allow_subdomains=false that may have issued wildcard certificates.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.8.9 / 1.9.4 or later
Fixed in 1.8.91.9.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Vault to version 1.8.9, 1.9.4, or later. Additionally, audit existing PKI role configurations and review recently issued certificates for any unauthorized wildcard certificates that may have been issued during the vulnerable period.

Recommended fix High confidence

Vault 1.8.9 or Vault 1.9.4 or later (recommended: latest 1.9.x or 1.10.x stable release)

  1. Backup your Vault data and configuration before upgrading
  2. Plan a maintenance window for the upgrade
  3. Upgrade Vault to version 1.8.9 or 1.9.4 or later
  4. After upgrade, verify that the PKI role's allow_subdomains=false setting now correctly prevents wildcard certificate issuance for the specified domain
  5. Test certificate issuance with the PKI role to confirm the fix is working as expected
  6. Monitor Vault logs for any anomalies
Caveat Review HashiCorp Vault 1.8.9 and 1.9.4 release notes for any breaking changes; standard upgrade precautions apply (backup data, test in non-prod first)

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Vault Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

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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-2022-25243 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data