CVE-2025-6013 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting HashiCorp Vault and Vault Enterprise's LDAP authentication method. The issue arises when the 'username_as_alias' configuration is set to true. In this scenario, if a user has multiple Common Names (CNs) in their LDAP entries that are identical except for leading or trailing whitespace characters, the Vault LDAP auth method may fail to properly enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). This improper neutralization of whitespace (CWE-156) allows an attacker to potentially bypass MFA requirements by exploiting the way Vault processes and compares usernames with whitespace variations. The vulnerability affects Vault versions starting from 1.10.0 and was fixed in Vault Community Edition 1.20.2 and Vault Enterprise versions 1.16.24, 1.18.13, 1.19.8, and 1.20.2. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.5, indicating a medium severity level. The attack vector is network-based (AV:N), with low attack complexity (AC:L), but requires high privileges (PR:H) and no user interaction (UI:N). The impact affects confidentiality and integrity, but not availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild. This vulnerability could allow an attacker with some level of privileged access to bypass MFA protections, potentially escalating access or compromising sensitive secrets managed by Vault.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-6013 can be significant, especially for those relying heavily on HashiCorp Vault for secrets management and identity authentication. Vault is widely used in cloud-native environments, DevOps pipelines, and infrastructure automation, making it a critical component for securing sensitive credentials and secrets. The MFA bypass could allow attackers who have some level of LDAP access or privileged network access to circumvent additional authentication layers, increasing the risk of unauthorized access to confidential data and infrastructure. This could lead to data breaches, unauthorized changes to infrastructure, and potential lateral movement within networks. Given the increasing regulatory scrutiny in Europe around data protection (e.g., GDPR), any compromise of sensitive data due to this vulnerability could result in legal and financial repercussions. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, which often deploy Vault for secure secret storage, are particularly at risk.

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should immediately upgrade affected Vault instances to the patched versions: Vault Community Edition 1.20.2 or Vault Enterprise versions 1.16.24, 1.18.13, 1.19.8, or 1.20.2. Until patches are applied, organizations should consider disabling the 'username_as_alias' setting if feasible, as this configuration triggers the vulnerability. Additionally, review and tighten LDAP user entries to avoid multiple CNs differing only by whitespace, which can reduce the attack surface. Implement network segmentation and strict access controls to limit who can reach Vault's LDAP authentication endpoints. Monitor Vault authentication logs for suspicious activity, especially any anomalies related to MFA enforcement failures or unusual login patterns. Finally, conduct internal audits of MFA enforcement and consider additional compensating controls such as conditional access policies or enhanced logging and alerting on authentication events.