OpenBao's Inline Auth Incorrectly Redacted HeadersGHSA-q8cj-789h-vg24
Fix: openbao/openbao#3076GHSA-q8cj-789h-vg24 is a CWE-532 vulnerability in github.com/openbao/openbao. A fix is available for github.com/openbao/openbao — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-q8cj-789h-vg24.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/openbao/openbaoReal-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
OpenBao is an open source identity-based secrets management system. Prior to version 2.5.4, OpenBao's inline auth functionality incorrectly redacted audit log entries, resulting in non-auth headers being removed and auth-related headers being retained in cleartext. This requires an attacker to compromise access to the audit device. Operators should review leaked source authentication material and rotate it as appropriate. This is fixed in OpenBao v2.5.4.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/openbao/openbao | all versions | 2.5.4go get github.com/openbao/openbao@v2.5.4 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/openbao/openbao, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/openbao/openbao to 2.5.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-q8cj-789h-vg24 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.
OpenBao is packaged for Fedora and EPEL. Both shipped builds (2.6.1) are newer than the fixed version (2.5.4) for this audit-log redaction flaw and are not affected.
No mitigation is necessary; the shipped OpenBao packages already contain the fix.Source: Red Hat security advisory for GHSA-q8cj-789h-vg24 (CC BY 4.0)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-q8cj-789h-vg24 in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.