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MEDIUM severity

CVE-2021-38553 — vault

MEDIUM

CVE-2021-38553 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.4) CWE-281 vulnerability in github.com/hashicorp/vault. A fix is available for github.com/hashicorp/vault — see the affected versions and patch details below.

HashiCorp Vault underlying database had excessively broad filesystem permissions from v1.4.0 until v1.8.0

Also known asBIT-vault-2021-38553GHSA-23fq-q7hc-993rGO-2022-0620
Published
Updated
Affected
1 pkg
Patched
1 / 1
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Oct 10, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
0.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs18th percentile — riskier than 18% of all scored CVEsHighest risk
0.00%0.26%0.51%0.77%0.0%0.3%Apr 26Aug 26Oct 26

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2021-38553 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected
🐹github.com/hashicorp/vault

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

HashiCorp Vault and Vault Enterprise 1.4.0 through 1.7.3 initialized an underlying database file associated with the Integrated Storage feature with excessively broad filesystem permissions. Fixed in Vault and Vault Enterprise 1.8.0.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
🐹Gogithub.com/hashicorp/vault≥ 1.4.0&&< 1.8.01.8.0go get github.com/hashicorp/vault@v1.8.0

Affected Products

1 product · 2 configurations
Application
vaulthashicorp
≥ 1.4.0 && < 1.8.0
range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/hashicorp/vault, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

  2. Fix

    Update github.com/hashicorp/vault to 1.8.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-38553 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. Workarounds

    If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

Frequently Asked Questions

HashiCorp Vault and Vault Enterprise 1.4.0 through 1.7.3 initialized an underlying database file associated with the Integrated Storage feature with excessively broad filesystem permissions. Fixed in Vault and Vault Enterprise 1.8.0.
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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CVE-2021-38553: vault — Fixed in 1.8.0