CVE-2026-55775

OpenBao's System Backend allows Unauthorized Management of the containing Namespace

Published Sep 15, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 2.3 Low EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
OpenBao is an open source identity-based secrets management system. Prior to 2.5.5, OpenBao users granted capabilities on /sys/namespaces/root within a non-root namespace could exploit special handling of the literal root path in namespace canonicalization. The /sys/namespaces/* endpoint family can resolve its containing namespace through a path prefix or X-Vault-Namespace header. ACL checks occurred before root canonicalized to an empty path, causing /sys/namespaces/root to resolve to the system backend's containing namespace and allowing permitted lookups, deletion, locking, or custom metadata changes against that direct containing namespace. The root namespace and arbitrary unrelated namespaces are not affected, and available operations depend on the capabilities granted on the path and subpaths such as /api-lock. This issue is fixed in version 2.5.5.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-mwr2-wmgp-crj6 OpenBao's System Backend allows Unauthorized Management of the containing Namespace
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Openbao
Openbao openbao
Vendors & Products Openbao
Openbao openbao
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description OpenBao is an open source identity-based secrets management system. Prior to 2.5.5, OpenBao users granted capabilities on /sys/namespaces/root within a non-root namespace could exploit special handling of the literal root path in namespace canonicalization. The /sys/namespaces/* endpoint family can resolve its containing namespace through a path prefix or X-Vault-Namespace header. ACL checks occurred before root canonicalized to an empty path, causing /sys/namespaces/root to resolve to the system backend's containing namespace and allowing permitted lookups, deletion, locking, or custom metadata changes against that direct containing namespace. The root namespace and arbitrary unrelated namespaces are not affected, and available operations depend on the capabilities granted on the path and subpaths such as /api-lock. This issue is fixed in version 2.5.5.
Title OpenBao's System Backend allows Unauthorized Management of the containing Namespace
Weaknesses CWE-285
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 2.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
GitHub_M
Published
Updated
Sep 15, 2026, 6:02 PM
Reserved
Jun 17, 2026, 2:40 PM
Status
Awaiting Analysis
Published
Sep 15, 2026, 4:17 PM
Modified
Sep 25, 2026, 2:23 PM