CVE-2025-12044

CVE-2025-12044 is a high-severity vulnerability in Hashicorp Vault with a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-770.

Key facts

Description

Vault and Vault Enterprise (“Vault”) are vulnerable to an unauthenticated denial of service when processing JSON payloads. This occurs due to a regression from a previous fix for [+HCSEC-2025-24+|https://discuss.hashicorp.com/t/hcsec-2025-24-vault-denial-of-service-though-complex-json-payloads/76393]  which allowed for processing JSON payloads before applying rate limits. This vulnerability, CVE-2025-12044, is fixed in Vault Community Edition 1.21.0 and Vault Enterprise 1.16.27, 1.19.11, 1.20.5, and 1.21.0.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-12044?
Vault and Vault Enterprise (“Vault”) are vulnerable to an unauthenticated denial of service when processing JSON payloads. This occurs due to a regression from a previous fix for [+HCSEC-2025-24+|https://discuss.hashicorp.com/t/hcsec-2025-24-vault-denial-of-service-though-complex-json-payloads/76393]  which allowed for processing JSON payloads before applying rate limits. This vulnerability, CVE-2025-12044, is fixed in Vault Community Edition 1.21.0 and Vault Enterprise 1.16.27, 1.19.11, 1.20.5, and 1.21.0.
How severe is CVE-2025-12044?
CVE-2025-12044 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5, rated high severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2025-12044 being actively exploited?
It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 1% (40th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2025-12044?
CVE-2025-12044 primarily affects Hashicorp Vault. In total, 2 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2025-12044?
Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
Does CVE-2025-12044 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?
Yes. CVE-2025-12044 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2025-35718.
When was CVE-2025-12044 published?
CVE-2025-12044 was published on 2025-10-23 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (2)

More vulnerabilities in Hashicorp Vault

All CVEs affecting Hashicorp Vault →

Other CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) vulnerabilities

Browse all CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) vulnerabilities →