{"id":"CVE-2025-59048","aliases":["GHSA-jp7h-4f3c-9rc7","GO-2025-4067"],"url":"https://o3.security/vulnerability/CVE-2025-59048","summary":"OpenBao AWS Plugin Vulnerable to Cross-Account IAM Role Impersonation in AWS Auth Method","details":"### Impact\nThis is a cross-account impersonation vulnerability in the `auth-aws` plugin. The vulnerability allows an IAM role from an untrusted AWS account to authenticate by impersonating a role with the **same name** in a trusted account, leading to unauthorized access.\n\nThis impacts all users of the `auth-aws` plugin who operate in a multi-account AWS environment where IAM role names may not be unique across accounts.\n\nThe core of the vulnerability is a flawed caching mechanism that fails to validate the AWS Account ID during authentication. While the use of wildcards in a `bound_iam_principal_arn configuration` significantly increases the attack surface, **wildcards are not a prerequisite for exploitation**. The vulnerability can be exploited with specific ARN bindings if a role name collision occurs.\n\nSuccessful exploitation can lead to unauthorized access to secrets, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation. Given that the only prerequisite is a duplicate role name, the severity is considered **high**.\n\n### Patches\nThis vulnerability has been patched in version **0.1.1** of the `auth-aws` plugin.\nUsers are advised to upgrade to version **0.1.1** or later to remediate this vulnerability.\n\n### Workarounds\nFor users who are unable to upgrade to version **0.1.1** immediately, the most effective workaround is to **guarantee that IAM role names are unique across all AWS accounts** that could potentially interact with your OpenBao environment. This is the most critical mitigation step.\n\n**Primary Mitigation**: Audit your AWS organizations to identify and rename any duplicate IAM role names. Enforce a naming convention that includes account-specific identifiers to prevent future collisions.\n\nWhile removing wildcards from your `bound_iam_principal_arn` configuration is still recommended as a security best practice, it **will not** mitigate this vulnerability if duplicate role names exist.\n\n### Credits\nThis vulnerability was discovered and reported by [Pavlos Karakalidis](https://github.com/pkarakal/)","published":"2025-10-23T15:09:06.574Z","modified":"2026-08-12T03:51:30.191729046Z","cvss":{"score":8.1,"severity":"HIGH","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N"},"epss":null,"cisaKev":null,"exploitsKnown":0,"affectedPackages":[{"ecosystem":"Go","name":"github.com/openbao/openbao-plugins","fixedVersion":"0.1.1"}],"fix":{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao-plugins/commit/2a77af36834746ca6d3ac9bd1049154c84b3efae","label":"openbao/openbao-plugins@2a77af3"},"references":[{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2025/59xxx/CVE-2025-59048.json"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao-plugins/security/advisories/GHSA-jp7h-4f3c-9rc7"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-59048"},{"type":"FIX","url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao-plugins/commit/2a77af36834746ca6d3ac9bd1049154c84b3efae"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao-plugins"}],"provenance":{"sources":["OSV.dev","FIRST.org (EPSS)"],"lastVerified":"2026-08-12T03:51:30.191729046Z"}}