CVE-2025-49829 is a medium-severity vulnerability classified under CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) affecting CyberArk Conjur, a secrets management and application identity solution widely used for securing infrastructure credentials. The vulnerability exists in Secrets Manager, Self-Hosted (formerly Conjur Enterprise) versions prior to 13.5.1 and 13.6.1, as well as Conjur OSS versions before 1.22.1. The core issue stems from missing authorization validations within the Secrets Manager component, allowing authenticated attackers with low privileges to inject unauthorized resources directly into the Conjur database and bypass permission checks. This flaw could enable attackers to escalate privileges or manipulate secrets management workflows, potentially compromising the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive credentials managed by Conjur. The vulnerability does not require user interaction but does require the attacker to have some level of authenticated access (low privileges). The CVSS 4.0 base score is 6.0, reflecting a network attack vector, low attack complexity, partial impact on confidentiality, high impact on integrity, and no impact on availability. The vulnerability has been addressed in Conjur OSS version 1.22.1 and Secrets Manager, Self-Hosted versions 13.5.1 and 13.6.1. No known exploits are reported in the wild as of the publication date.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-49829 can be significant, especially for enterprises relying on CyberArk Conjur for managing secrets and application identities in their infrastructure. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized injection of resources and bypassing of permission checks, resulting in unauthorized access to sensitive secrets such as API keys, passwords, and certificates. This could facilitate lateral movement within networks, data exfiltration, or disruption of critical services. Given the widespread adoption of CyberArk solutions in sectors like finance, healthcare, and government across Europe, the vulnerability poses a risk to the confidentiality and integrity of critical infrastructure. Additionally, regulatory frameworks such as GDPR impose strict requirements on protecting sensitive data, and exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to compliance violations and reputational damage. The requirement for authenticated access somewhat limits the attack surface but insider threats or compromised credentials could be leveraged by attackers to exploit this vulnerability.

European organizations using CyberArk Conjur should immediately verify their deployed versions and upgrade to Conjur OSS 1.22.1 or Secrets Manager, Self-Hosted 13.5.1/13.6.1 or later. Beyond patching, organizations should implement strict access controls and monitoring around Conjur authentication mechanisms to detect anomalous access patterns indicative of privilege escalation attempts. Employing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users accessing Conjur can reduce the risk of credential compromise. Regular audits of Conjur resource configurations and permissions should be conducted to identify and remediate any unauthorized changes. Network segmentation and least privilege principles should be enforced to limit the scope of any potential exploitation. Additionally, integrating Conjur logs with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems can enhance detection of suspicious activities. Organizations should also review and tighten API access policies and consider temporary credential rotation following patch deployment to invalidate any potentially compromised secrets.