CVE-2023-25812Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Governance-locked object deletion via permission fallback

Published Feb 21, 2023 · Updated Mar 10, 2025

Improper access control in MinIO allows remote authenticated users to delete governance-locked object versions via crafted requests. The enforceRetentionBypassForDelete function treats GetBucketObjectLockConfiguration permission as an alternative to BypassGovernanceRetention, so an explicit bypass denial is ignored. The bucket must use Governance Mode locking and the policy must deny s3:BypassGovernanceRetention while allowing s3:*; exploitation permanently deletes the chosen object version.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.95%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper access control in MinIO allows remote authenticated users to delete governance-locked object versions via crafted requests. The enforceRetentionBypassForDelete function treats GetBucketObjectLockConfiguration permission as an alternative to BypassGovernanceRetention, so an explicit bypass denial is ignored. The bucket must use Governance Mode locking and the policy must deny s3:BypassGovernanceRetention while allowing s3:*; exploitation permanently deletes the chosen object version.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-25812
Published
Feb 21, 2023
Updated
Mar 10, 2025
Vendor
MinIO
Product
MinIO
Classifications
CWE-281, T1485
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 21, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 10, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=>= RELEASE.2020-04-10T03-34-42Z, < RELEASE.2023-02-17T17-52-43Z

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

MinIO · MinIOversion=>= RELEASE.2020-04-10T03-34-42Z, < RELEASE.2023-02-17T17-52-43Z

Published CVSS scores

8.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
6.5GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-281Improper Preservation of Permissions
T1485Data Destruction

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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