Root privilege escalation via mixed-case policy names
Published Nov 25, 2025 · Updated Feb 26, 2026
Privilege escalation in OpenBao before 2.4.4 allows remote authenticated users to gain root permissions through identity group updates. The group update handler preserves mixed-case policy names during case-insensitive deduplication, so its literal root check misses variants such as Root. Exploitation requires a privileged operator in the root namespace with identity/groups access but no policy access; successful abuse grants root-equivalent control over stored secrets and system operations.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in OpenBao before 2.4.4 allows remote authenticated users to gain root permissions through identity group updates. The group update handler preserves mixed-case policy names during case-insensitive deduplication, so its literal root check misses variants such as Root. Exploitation requires a privileged operator in the root namespace with identity/groups access but no policy access; successful abuse grants root-equivalent control over stored secrets and system operations.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-64761
- Published
- Nov 25, 2025
- Updated
- Feb 26, 2026
- Vendor
- OpenBao
- Product
- OpenBao
- Classifications
- CWE-266, T1098
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Nov 25, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 26, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=< 2.4.4
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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