CVE-2024-9180
Description
A flaw was found in HashiCorp Vault. This vulnerability allows a privileged Vault operator with write permissions to the root namespace's identity endpoint to escalate their privileges to Vault’s root policy.
A misconfiguration in Vault allows a privileged operator (someone with write permissions on the root namespace’s identity endpoint) to elevate privileges—either their own or another user’s—to the root policy level, effectively giving full administrative control.
Mitigation
This CVE can be mitigated by the following:
* Upgrade to a version of Vault that has the fix.
* Restrict write access to the root namespace’s identity endpoint.
* Implement least privilege policies (e.g., via Sentinel) that limit what root-namespace operators can do.
* Monitor audit logs: check for any “identity_policy” entries containing “root” to detect suspicious privilege escalations.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.2 | 7.2 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Network | Network | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | Low | N/A |
| Privileges Required | High | High | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | None | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | N/A |
| Confidentiality | High | High | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | High | High | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | High | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Access Control
Technical Impact: Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
A user can access restricted functionality and/or sensitive information that may include administrative functionality and user accounts.
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