CVE-2021-41802
MEDIUMCVE-2021-41802 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) CWE-732 vulnerability in github.com/hashicorp/vault. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2021-41802 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Hashicorp Vault Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Real-World Exposure
github.com/hashicorp/vault🐹github.com/hashicorp/vaultReal-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 through 1.7.4 and 1.8.3 allowed a user with write permission to an entity alias ID sharing a mount accessor with another user to acquire this other user’s policies by merging their identities. Fixed in Vault and Vault Enterprise 1.7.5 and 1.8.4.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/hashicorp/vault | all versions | 1.7.5 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/hashicorp/vault | ≥ 1.8.0&&< 1.8.4 | 1.8.4 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/hashicorp/vault. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update github.com/hashicorp/vault to 1.7.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-41802 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
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.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2021-41802 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2021-41802. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-41802 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2021-41802 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.