HashiCorp Vault Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerabilityGHSA-4qhc-v8r6-8vwm
HIGHGHSA-4qhc-v8r6-8vwm is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-401 vulnerability in github.com/hashicorp/vault. A fix is available for github.com/hashicorp/vault — see the affected versions and patch details below.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
github.com/hashicorp/vault🐹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 inbound client requests triggering a policy check can lead to an unbounded consumption of memory. A large number of these requests may lead to denial-of-service. Fixed in Vault 1.15.2, 1.14.6, and 1.13.10.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/hashicorp/vault | all versions | 1.13.10go get github.com/hashicorp/vault@v1.13.10 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/hashicorp/vault | ≥ 1.14.0&&< 1.14.6 | 1.14.6go get github.com/hashicorp/vault@v1.14.6 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/hashicorp/vault | ≥ 1.15.0&&< 1.15.2 | 1.15.2go get github.com/hashicorp/vault@v1.15.2 |
Affected Products
vaulthashicorpDetection & 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, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/hashicorp/vault to 1.13.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-4qhc-v8r6-8vwm 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.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 | openshift4/ose-installer-rhel9:v4.17.0-202409122204.p0.gdfd4c08.assembly.stream.el9 | RHSA-2024:3718 |
| RHODF-4.15-RHEL-9 | odf4/mcg-rhel9-operator:v4.15.0-39 | RHSA-2024:1383 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-4qhc-v8r6-8vwm in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.