CVE-2025-49829 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) affecting CyberArk Conjur Secrets Manager (Self-Hosted) and Conjur OSS. The flaw arises from insufficient authorization validation in the Secrets Manager component, allowing authenticated attackers with low privileges to bypass permission checks and inject unauthorized resources into the secrets database. This injection capability could enable attackers to manipulate secret data, potentially leading to unauthorized disclosure or modification of sensitive credentials used for infrastructure and application identity management. The vulnerability affects Conjur OSS versions prior to 1.22.1 and Secrets Manager, Self-Hosted versions prior to 13.5.1 and 13.6.1. The CVSS 4.0 score is 6.0 (medium severity), reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, partial confidentiality impact, high integrity impact, and no availability impact. Exploitation requires authentication but no user interaction, making it a significant risk in environments where attackers can gain low-level access. No public exploits have been reported yet, but the potential impact on secrets management systems is considerable given the central role of Conjur in securing infrastructure credentials. The vulnerability underscores the importance of robust authorization checks in secrets management solutions to prevent privilege escalation and data tampering.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk to the confidentiality and integrity of critical secrets used for infrastructure and application authentication. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to inject malicious or unauthorized secrets, potentially leading to lateral movement, privilege escalation, or disruption of automated workflows dependent on these secrets. Sectors such as finance, energy, telecommunications, and government, which heavily rely on CyberArk Conjur for secure secrets management, could face operational disruptions or data breaches. The medium severity rating indicates a moderate but tangible risk, especially in environments where attackers can obtain low-level authenticated access. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, as attackers may develop exploits once the vulnerability details are widely known. European organizations with self-hosted deployments of Conjur should consider this a priority vulnerability to address to maintain the security of their secrets infrastructure.

1. Upgrade affected CyberArk Conjur products to the fixed versions: Conjur OSS 1.22.1 or later, and Secrets Manager, Self-Hosted versions 13.5.1 or 13.6.1 or later. 2. Implement strict access controls to limit authenticated user privileges to the minimum necessary, reducing the risk of low-privilege users exploiting the vulnerability. 3. Monitor logs and audit trails for unusual resource injection activities or permission bypass attempts within the secrets management system. 4. Employ network segmentation and zero-trust principles to restrict access to the secrets manager to only trusted and verified systems and users. 5. Conduct regular security reviews and penetration testing focused on authorization mechanisms in secrets management solutions. 6. Educate administrators and DevOps teams on the importance of timely patching and monitoring of secrets management platforms. 7. Consider deploying runtime detection tools that can identify anomalous behavior indicative of unauthorized resource injection or privilege escalation attempts.