OpenBao Privileged Operator Identity Group Root Escalation (CVE-2025-64761)
Description
OpenBao versions prior to 2.4.4 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability where a privileged operator with access to the identity group subsystem can add a root policy to a group identity, thereby escalating permissions to root level. This occurs specifically when an operator in the root namespace has access to identity/groups endpoints but lacks direct policy access. The vulnerability has been patched in version 2.4.4.
Affected software
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AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
OpenBao, an open source identity-based secrets management system, has a privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2025-64761) affecting versions before 2.4.4. A privileged operator with access to identity/groups endpoints but without policy access can exploit the identity group subsystem to add a root policy to a group identity, effectively escalating their or another user's permissions to root level. Operators with policy access could already grant root-equivalent permissions by modifying policies. The issue is resolved in version 2.4.4.
Potential Impact
An attacker with privileged operator access to the identity/groups endpoints but without direct policy access can escalate privileges to root level by adding a root policy to a group identity. This could lead to unauthorized full administrative control within the OpenBao system.
Mitigation Recommendations
Upgrade OpenBao to version 2.4.4 or later, where this vulnerability has been patched. Applying this official fix eliminates the privilege escalation risk described.
Technical Details
- Gcve Source
- db.gcve.eu
- Osv Id
- BIT-openbao-2025-64761
- Osv Schema Version
- 1.6.2
- Aliases
- ["CVE-2025-64761"]
- Ecosystems
- ["Bitnami"]
- Database Specific Severity
- High
Patch Information
Threat ID: 6aa005f4acd9273b49ab6399
Added to database: 09/08/2026, 12:56:20 UTC
Last enriched: 09/08/2026, 13:32:06 UTC
Last updated: 10/23/2026, 15:10:10 UTC
Views: 21
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