Vulnerability in Openbao
CVE-2025-55003
OpenBao exists to provide a software solution to manage, store, and distribute sensitive data including secrets, certificates, and keys. In versions 2.3.1 and below, OpenBao's Login Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) system allows enforcing MFA using Time-based One Time Password (TOTP). Due to normalization applied by the underlying TOTP library, codes were accepted which could contain whitespace; this whitespace could bypass internal rate limiting of the MFA method and allow reuse of existing MFA codes. This issue was fixed in version 2.3.2. To work around this, use of rate-limiting quotas can limit an attacker's ability to exploit this: https://openbao.org/api-docs/system/rate-limit-quotas/.
EPSS: 0.002 (10.0th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 5.7 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.
Affected products
- Openbao — versions < 2.3.2
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_CONFIRM, Vendor Advisory)
- security-advisories@github.com (Patch, x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_MISC, Not Applicable)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-55003?
- CVE-2025-55003 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Openbao, classified under Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts. CVSS score: 5.7/10. Published 2025-08-09.
- How severe is CVE-2025-55003?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.7 out of 10.