VaultApplication · Hashicorp

CVE-2025-3879

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.16.18 / 1.17.14 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 Community, Vault Enterprise (“Vault”) Azure Auth method did not correctly validate the claims in the Azure-issued token, resulting in the potential bypass of the bound_locations parameter on login. Fixed in Vault Community Edition 1.19.1 and Vault Enterprise 1.19.1, 1.18.7, 1.17.14, 1.16.18.

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 Azure Auth method in HashiCorp Vault failed to correctly validate claims in Azure-issued tokens, allowing potential bypass of the bound_locations parameter that is designed to restrict authentication to specific Azure geographic locations.

MitigationUpgrade Vault to version 1.19.1 (Community Edition) or 1.19.1/1.18.7/1.17.14/1.16.18 (Enterprise), then verify that the bound_locations parameter is functioning correctly and rejecting tokens from unauthorized locations.

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:>= 0.10.0, < 1.16.18>= 0.10.0, < 1.19.1>= 1.17.0, < 1.17.14>= 1.18.0, < 1.18.7= 1.19.0

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

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

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` or check the Vault server log at startup to obtain the exact version number
    Affected if Version is >= 0.10.0 and < 1.16.18, OR >= 1.17.0 and < 1.17.14, OR >= 1.18.0 and < 1.18.7, OR = 1.19.0, OR >= 1.19.0 and < 1.19.1
  2. Verify Azure Auth method is enabled
    Run `vault auth list` to list all enabled auth methods and confirm 'azure' is present
    Affected if Azure auth method is enabled in the Vault instance
  3. Check if bound_locations is configured
    Run `vault read auth/azure/config` to inspect the Azure auth method configuration and look for the 'bound_locations' parameter
    Affected if bound_locations parameter is set with specific geographic locations (non-empty value)
  4. Confirm token location validation is bypassed
    Attempt to authenticate using an Azure token from a location NOT in the bound_locations list. If authentication succeeds, the vulnerability is present.
    Affected if Tokens from unauthorized locations are accepted despite bound_locations restrictions

User is affected if running an affected Vault version with Azure auth method enabled and bound_locations configured, where tokens from non-bound locations can still authenticate successfully.

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 1.16.18 / 1.17.14 / 1.18.7 or later
Fixed in 1.16.181.17.141.18.7
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Vault to version 1.19.1 (Community Edition) or 1.19.1/1.18.7/1.17.14/1.16.18 (Enterprise), then verify that the bound_locations parameter is functioning correctly and rejecting tokens from unauthorized locations.

Recommended fix High confidence

Vault 1.16.18, 1.17.14, 1.18.7, or 1.19.1 depending on current version branch

  1. 1. Identify current Vault version using 'vault version' command
  2. 2. Determine target upgrade version based on current version: if running 1.16.x upgrade to 1.16.18, if running 1.17.x upgrade to 1.17.14, if running 1.18.x upgrade to 1.18.7, if running 1.19.x upgrade to 1.19.1
  3. 3. Review Vault upgrade documentation for the target version
  4. 4. Create backup of Vault data directory and configuration
  5. 5. Test upgrade in non-production environment first
  6. 6. For single-server: stop Vault, install new version, start Vault
  7. 7. For clusters: follow rolling upgrade procedure (use 'vault operator raft snapshot' for data backup)
  8. 8. Verify Azure auth method works correctly after upgrade by testing login with bound_locations constraint
Caveat Patch releases (x.y.z) typically have minimal breaking changes; review changelog for Azure auth changes and general upgrade notes

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

Fix this in Vault Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-3879 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