CVE-2026-4525 Vault Token Leaked to Backends via Authorization: Bearer Passthrough Header
Attackers can steal Vault tokens if the Authorization header passthrough is enabled, exposing sensitive credentials to backend plugins.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-4525?
CVE-2026-4525 is a high-severity vulnerability in Hashicorp Vault, published on 17 Apr 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
If a Vault auth mount is configured to pass through the "Authorization" header, and the "Authorization" header is used to authenticate to Vault, Vault forwarded the Vault token to the auth plugin backend. Fixed in 2.0.0, 1.21.5, 1.20.10, and 1.19.16.
Weakness: CWE-201
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-4525?
4 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/hashicorp/vault and vault. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
github.com/hashicorp/vault Go | From 0.11.2 | None |
github.com/hashicorp/vault Go | From 0.11.2 to 1.21.4 | None |
github.com/hashicorp/vault Go | From 0.11.2 to 1.21.4 | None |
vault Bitnami | From 0.10.0 | 2.0.0 |
Products include Hashicorp Vault.
How do I fix CVE-2026-4525?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Is CVE-2026-4525 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-4525 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Hashicorp Vault
Sources
Also known as BIT-vault-2026-4525, GHSA-72gw-fmmr-c4r4, GO-2026-5199, MINI-5wqq-hrmf-2h3f, MINI-pfj3-7m8v-mhgw.