Vault: Improper Neutralization of Whitespace
CVE-2025-6013 is a high-severity improper neutralization of whitespace vulnerability in Vault from HashiCorp, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.1 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists version 1.20.2 as the first without the flaw, so updating Vault to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.57% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Vault to 1.20.2 or a later version.
- Update Vault Enterprise to 1.20.2 or a later version.
- Read the advisory on discuss.hashicorp.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| HashiCorp | Vault | 1.10.0 up to, but not including, 1.20.2 | 1.20.2 |
| HashiCorp | Vault Enterprise | 1.10.0 up to, but not including, 1.20.2 | 1.20.2 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- NoneAvailability is not affected.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | 6.5 | Medium | CNA (hashicorp.com) |
| CVSS 3.1 | 8.1 | High | NVD |
Official description
Vault and Vault Enterprise’s (“Vault”) ldap auth method may not have correctly enforced MFA if username_as_alias was set to true and a user had multiple CNs that are equal but with leading or trailing spaces. Fixed in Vault Community Edition 1.20.2 and Vault Enterprise 1.20.2, 1.19.8, 1.18.13, and 1.16.24.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Improper Neutralization of Whitespace
The product receives input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could be interpreted as whitespace when they are sent to a downstream component, e.g., space or tab.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Developers should anticipate that whitespace will be injected/removed/manipulated in the input vectors of their product. Use an appropriate combination of denylists and allowlists to ensure only valid, expected and appropriate input is processed by the system.
- While it is risky to use dynamically-generated query strings, code, or commands that mix control and data together, sometimes it may be unavoidable. Properly quote arguments and escape any special characters within those arguments. The most conservative approach is to escape or filter all characters that do not pass an extremely strict allowlist (such as everything that is not alphanumeric or white space). If some special characters are still needed, such as white space, wrap each argument in quotes after the escaping/filtering step. Be careful of argument injection (CWE-88).
- Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.
More Improper Neutralization of Whitespace vulnerabilities (CWE-156)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other vulnerabilities in Vault
- 7.2 High severity
- 8.0 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.6 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
Spotted an error? Tell us.