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NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2026-46405: OpenBao's Kerberos Auth Method Accumulates Unaccessible Tokens

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 21/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.61% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • Fixed version: github.com/openbao/openbao (Go) 2.5.4; openbao (openSUSE:Tumbleweed) 2.5.4-1.1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to github.com/openbao/openbao (Go) 2.5.4; openbao (openSUSE:Tumbleweed) 2.5.4-1.1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

OpenBao is an open source identity-based secrets management system. Prior to version 2.5.4, in OpenBao's Kerberos auth method on the `GET` handler, or when an `Authorization: Negotiate` header is supplied, the response is includes a `logical.Auth` object in addition to an error message. This results in tokens being created with only the default policy, default TTL, and no entity information, which are hidden by the returned error message. No access to these tokens by the caller occurs and the authentication token is not ever made accessible outside of `sys/raw`. This is fixed in OpenBao v2.5.4. As a workaround, users may set a rate limit quota to limit the creation of these paths. As the path is unauthenticated, it isn't possible to deny access to it.

MediumCVSS 5.3 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Aug 7, 2026
Updated
Sep 9, 2026
EPSS
0.6% · 49th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

21

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
21 / 40 · 5.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.6%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · GitHub_M
5.3
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

—

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • openbao openbao

    • < 2.5.4affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Gogithub.com/openbao/openbaofrom 0—
Gogithub.com/openbao/openbaobefore 2.5.42.5.4
openSUSE:Tumbleweedopenbaobefore 2.5.4-1.12.5.4-1.1

Same product

openbao: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-33758OpenBao has Reflected XSS in its OIDC authentication error message
    37Monitor
  • CVE-2026-63132OpenBao's Recovery Mode Vulnerable To Token Leakage via Timing Attack
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2025-54997OpenBao: Privileged Operator May Execute Code on the Underlying Host
    36Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-46358Aug 7, 2026 · OpenBao's Inline Auth Incorrectly Redacted Headers
    21Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-45808Aug 7, 2026 · OpenBao's cross-namespace lease revocation via legacy sys/revoke path bypasses ACL
    28Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-55774Sep 15, 2026 · OpenBao: Cross-namespace lease revocation/renewal via canonical sys/leases/{revoke,renew} — incomplete fix of CVE-2026-45808
    8Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Go:github.com/openbao/openbao2.5.4Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:openbao2.5.4-1.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
low · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
Low

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-770 · Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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References

Show all references (3 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records