HashiCorp, a prominent provider of cloud infrastructure automation software, has recently announced a critical vulnerability in its Vault secret management platform. This flaw, identified as CVE-2024-9180, could enable privileged attackers to escalate their access to the highly sensitive root policy, posing significant risks to the integrity of the Vault instance. The vulnerability impacts Vault Community Edition versions 1.7.7 to 1.17.6 and Vault Enterprise versions 1.7.7 to 1.17.6, 1.16.10, and 1.15.15, and has been assigned a CVSSv3 score of 7.2, indicating its high severity.
The root cause of this vulnerability lies in the improper handling of entries within Vault’s in-memory entity cache. An attacker with write permissions to the root namespace’s identity endpoint could potentially manipulate their cached entity record through the identity API. While the effect is somewhat constrained because the manipulated record does not propagate across the cluster or persist to the storage backend, the ramifications of successful exploitation remain severe. A malicious actor could gain complete control over the Vault instance, leading to the compromise of sensitive data and disruptions in critical operations.
To address this vulnerability, HashiCorp has released patched versions for both Community and Enterprise Editions. Users of the Vault Community Edition are urged to upgrade to version 1.18.0, while those using the Enterprise Edition should update to 1.18.0, 1.17.7, 1.16.11, or 1.15.16, depending on their current version. For organizations unable to implement immediate upgrades, HashiCorp recommends alternative mitigation strategies, such as utilizing Sentinel EGP policies or modifying the default policy to restrict access to the identity endpoint.
In light of this discovery, organizations utilizing HashiCorp Vault are strongly advised to conduct regular security audits and implement prompt patching protocols to safeguard their critical infrastructure components. Monitoring Vault audit logs for entries containing “root” within the “identity_policy” array can also help detect potential exploitation attempts. As cyber threats continue to evolve, maintaining a proactive approach to security is essential for protecting sensitive information and ensuring operational integrity.
