CVE-2025-49830 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) affecting CyberArk's Conjur secrets management products, specifically the Secrets Manager, Self-Hosted (formerly Conjur Enterprise) versions prior to 13.5.1 and 13.6.1, and Conjur OSS versions prior to 1.22.1. Conjur is widely used for managing secrets and application identities within infrastructure environments. The vulnerability arises because an authenticated attacker with the ability to load policy files can exploit the YAML parser used during policy loading to reference arbitrary files on the Conjur server's filesystem. This improper limitation of pathname access allows the attacker to perform reconnaissance by mapping the folder structure of the Secrets Manager or to include and process unintended files within the policy YAML. Such unauthorized file inclusion can lead to disclosure of sensitive configuration or secret data stored on the server. The vulnerability does not require user interaction and can be exploited remotely over the network with low attack complexity, but it does require authenticated access with privileges to load policies. The CVSS 4.0 base score is 7.1 (high), reflecting the significant confidentiality impact (high), no impact on integrity or availability, and no user interaction needed. The issue was publicly disclosed on July 15, 2025, and fixed in Conjur OSS 1.22.1 and Secrets Manager, Self-Hosted versions 13.5.1 and 13.6.1. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time. This vulnerability highlights the risks of insufficient input validation in policy parsing components of secrets management systems, which are critical infrastructure security elements.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-49830 can be substantial due to the critical role Conjur plays in managing secrets and application identities within infrastructure. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive secrets, configuration files, or credentials stored on the Conjur server, potentially enabling further lateral movement or privilege escalation within enterprise environments. This compromises confidentiality and could undermine trust in automated secrets management, leading to operational disruptions or data breaches. Given the increasing adoption of DevSecOps and cloud-native infrastructure in Europe, organizations relying on Conjur for secrets management face elevated risks. The breach of secrets could also contravene GDPR requirements on data protection if personal data or cryptographic keys are exposed, leading to regulatory penalties. Additionally, the vulnerability requires authenticated access, so insider threats or compromised credentials could be leveraged by attackers to exploit this flaw, emphasizing the need for strong identity and access management controls. Although no known exploits are reported yet, the high severity and ease of exploitation once authenticated make timely patching critical to mitigate potential impacts.

European organizations should immediately identify and inventory all deployments of CyberArk Conjur OSS and Secrets Manager, Self-Hosted versions prior to the fixed releases (OSS < 1.22.1, Self-Hosted < 13.5.1 and 13.6.1). They must apply the official patches provided in Conjur OSS 1.22.1 and Secrets Manager 13.5.1/13.6.1 without delay. Beyond patching, organizations should enforce strict access controls to limit who can load or modify policies within Conjur, employing the principle of least privilege to reduce the risk of an authenticated attacker exploiting this vulnerability. Implement robust monitoring and alerting on policy changes and unusual file access patterns on the Conjur server to detect potential exploitation attempts. Conduct regular audits of policy files and server filesystem permissions to ensure no unauthorized files are accessible or included. Additionally, consider network segmentation to isolate the Conjur server from less trusted networks and enforce multi-factor authentication for all users with policy loading privileges. Finally, review and harden YAML parsing configurations if possible, to restrict file inclusion capabilities and validate inputs more rigorously.