The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-67642 affects the Jenkins HashiCorp Vault Plugin, specifically versions 371.v884a_4dd60fb_6 and earlier. The plugin is designed to integrate Jenkins with HashiCorp Vault, enabling Jenkins jobs to retrieve secrets securely from Vault. However, this vulnerability stems from the plugin's failure to correctly set the context when performing Vault credentials lookups. Normally, Vault credentials should be accessed only within the proper context to enforce strict access controls. Due to this flaw, attackers who have Item/Configure permissions within Jenkins can bypass these context checks and access Vault credentials that they are not authorized to see. This can lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive secrets such as API keys, tokens, or passwords stored in Vault. The vulnerability does not require higher administrative privileges but does require the attacker to have Item/Configure permissions, which are often granted to developers or build managers who configure Jenkins jobs. No CVSS score has been assigned yet, and no public exploits have been reported, but the risk is significant given the sensitive nature of Vault credentials and the potential for lateral movement or privilege escalation once credentials are compromised. The vulnerability was published on December 10, 2025, and no official patch links are currently available, indicating that remediation may require vendor updates or configuration changes. Organizations using Jenkins with this plugin should consider immediate risk assessments and access reviews.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-67642 can be severe. Jenkins is widely used across Europe for continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, and HashiCorp Vault is a popular secrets management solution. Unauthorized access to Vault credentials can lead to exposure of sensitive infrastructure secrets, enabling attackers to compromise cloud environments, databases, or other critical systems. This can result in data breaches, service disruptions, and loss of intellectual property. The vulnerability undermines the confidentiality of secrets, potentially leading to integrity and availability issues if attackers use stolen credentials to manipulate or disrupt systems. Since exploitation requires Item/Configure permissions, the threat is particularly relevant in organizations with broad or poorly controlled Jenkins permissions. The risk is amplified in sectors with stringent compliance requirements such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, common in countries like Germany, France, and the UK. Additionally, the exposure of Vault credentials could facilitate further attacks against European cloud providers or internal services, increasing the overall threat landscape.

1. Immediately audit and restrict Item/Configure permissions in Jenkins to only trusted and necessary users to minimize the attack surface. 2. Monitor Jenkins logs and Vault access logs for unusual or unauthorized access patterns to detect potential exploitation attempts early. 3. Apply the vendor patch or update the Jenkins HashiCorp Vault Plugin to a fixed version as soon as it becomes available. 4. Implement network segmentation and least privilege principles around Jenkins and Vault infrastructure to limit the impact of credential compromise. 5. Use Vault's built-in audit logging and rotation policies to detect and mitigate credential misuse. 6. Consider temporary disabling the Vault plugin or limiting its use in critical pipelines until a patch is applied. 7. Educate Jenkins administrators and developers about the risks of excessive permissions and the importance of secure plugin management. 8. Employ multi-factor authentication (MFA) for Jenkins access to reduce the risk of compromised user accounts being leveraged to exploit this vulnerability.