dbcve.org
VaultApplication · Hashicorp

CVE-2023-3462

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-31
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.13.5 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's Vault and Vault Enterprise are vulnerable to user enumeration when using the LDAP auth method. An attacker may submit requests of existent and non-existent LDAP users and observe the response from Vault to check if the account is valid on the LDAP server. This vulnerability is fixed in Vault 1.14.1 and 1.13.5.

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

HashiCorp Vault and Vault Enterprise contain a user enumeration vulnerability in the LDAP authentication method. Attackers can submit login requests with different LDAP usernames and observe Vault's responses to determine which accounts are valid on the LDAP server. This information disclosure allows attackers to identify valid user accounts for further attacks.

MitigationUpgrade Vault to version 1.14.1 or 1.13.5 to patch the vulnerability. Consider implementing rate limiting on authentication endpoints and monitoring for enumeration attack patterns as temporary mitigations.

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:>= 1.13.0, < 1.13.5= 1.14.0

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
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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. Identify the installed Vault version
    Run 'vault version' from the command line or check the version via the API at /sys/health or /sys/version
    Affected if The version is 1.13.0 through 1.13.4 inclusive, or exactly 1.14.0
  2. Verify if LDAP authentication method is enabled
    Check Vault configuration or list enabled auth methods using 'vault auth list' command and look for 'ldap' in the output
    Affected if LDAP auth method is enabled and mounted in Vault
  3. Confirm LDAP auth method is configured with userdn/binddn
    Review the LDAP auth method configuration by running 'vault read auth/ldap/config' and verify if userdn or user_attr parameters are set
    Affected if LDAP auth is configured with user-based DN settings that allow username enumeration through response differences
  4. Review authentication logs for user enumeration patterns
    Check Vault audit logs or system logs for repeated login attempts with different usernames that produce distinct error messages (e.g., 'user not found' vs 'invalid credentials')
    Affected if Logs show multiple failed login attempts with different usernames producing differentiated responses indicating user enumeration activity

Your environment is affected if Vault is running version 1.13.0-1.13.4 or 1.14.0 AND LDAP authentication method is enabled and accessible to untrusted users.

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 1.13.5 or later
Fixed in 1.13.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Vault to version 1.14.1 or 1.13.5 to patch the vulnerability. Consider implementing rate limiting on authentication endpoints and monitoring for enumeration attack patterns as temporary mitigations.

Recommended fix High confidence

Vault 1.14.1 (or Vault 1.13.5)

  1. 1. Back up your Vault data directory and configuration files before upgrading
  2. 2. Review the Vault 1.14.1 (or 1.13.5) release notes for any breaking changes that may affect your deployment
  3. 3. Stop the Vault service
  4. 4. Upgrade Vault to version 1.14.1 (recommended) or 1.13.5
  5. 5. Start the Vault service
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the Vault version
  7. 7. Test LDAP authentication to confirm the user enumeration fix is working
Caveat Review release notes for any breaking changes between your current version and 1.14.1; minor version upgrades typically have backward-compatible changes but may include behavior changes

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
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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-2023-3462 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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