CVE-2025-55003
OpenBao MFA TOTP Whitespace Bypass Vulnerability
Description
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/.
INFO
Published Date :
Aug. 9, 2025, 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified :
Aug. 12, 2025, 8:39 p.m.
Source :
[email protected]
Remotely Exploitable :
Yes !
Impact Score :
3.6
Exploitability Score :
2.1
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2025-55003.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
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The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2025-55003 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2025-55003 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
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Initial Analysis by [email protected]
Aug. 12, 2025
Action Type Old Value New Value Added CPE Configuration OR *cpe:2.3:a:openbao:openbao:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions up to (excluding) 2.3.2 Added Reference Type GitHub, Inc.: https://discuss.hashicorp.com/t/hcsec-2025-19-vault-login-mfa-bypass-of-rate-limiting-and-totp-token-reuse/76038 Types: Not Applicable Added Reference Type GitHub, Inc.: https://github.com/openbao/openbao/commit/8340a6918f6c41d8f75b6c3845c376d9dc32ed19 Types: Patch Added Reference Type GitHub, Inc.: https://github.com/openbao/openbao/security/advisories/GHSA-rxp7-9q75-vj3p Types: Vendor Advisory -
New CVE Received by [email protected]
Aug. 09, 2025
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description 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/. Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Added CWE CWE-307 Added Reference https://discuss.hashicorp.com/t/hcsec-2025-19-vault-login-mfa-bypass-of-rate-limiting-and-totp-token-reuse/76038 Added Reference https://github.com/openbao/openbao/commit/8340a6918f6c41d8f75b6c3845c376d9dc32ed19 Added Reference https://github.com/openbao/openbao/security/advisories/GHSA-rxp7-9q75-vj3p
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2025-55003 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2025-55003
weaknesses.