---
id: "CVE-2026-71543"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-71543", "GHSA-59w7-v8rr-pr4p", "GO-2026-6556"]
title: "OpenBao's Templated Policies Allow Privilege Escalation via Wildcard Characters in github.com/openbao/openbao"
severity: "high"
cvss: 7.5
epss: 0.00421
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "package"
products: [{"name": "github.com/openbao/openbao", "fixed": ["0.0.0-20260710001938-2d4ebafec5c5"], "affected": ">= 0.1.0, < 0.0.0-20260710001938-2d4ebafec5c5", "ecosystem": "go"}]
ecosystems: ["go"]
tags: ["acl-templated-policies", "openbao", "package", "pki", "secrets-management", "ssh"]
not_affected_if: ["entity-id-only-templates", "no-templated-policies"]
published_at: "2026-09-21T15:17:31+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T19:13:08+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-23T21:45:37+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "govuln", "url": "https://pkg.go.dev/vuln/GO-2026-6556", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:13:08+00:00"}, {"source": "epss", "url": "https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-71543", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:13:43+00:00"}, {"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-71543", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:35:23+00:00"}]
---

# OpenBao's Templated Policies Allow Privilege Escalation via Wildcard Characters in github.com/openbao/openbao

OpenBao's templated ACL, PKI, and SSH policies insert attacker-modifiable identity data without rejecting characters like asterisks, plus signs, slashes, and commas. An attacker who can change that data can widen access paths, obtain certificates for unauthorized domains, or add unauthorized SSH principals.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## Affected

- go:github.com/openbao/openbao affected >= 0.1.0, < 0.0.0-20260710001938-2d4ebafec5c5 fixed 0.0.0-20260710001938-2d4ebafec5c5

## Fix

Upgrade to OpenBao 2.6.0, or to Go module version 0.0.0-20260710001938-2d4ebafec5c5 or later.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T19:13:08+00:00 govuln https://pkg.go.dev/vuln/GO-2026-6556
- 2026-10-23T19:13:43+00:00 epss https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-71543
- 2026-10-23T19:35:23+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-71543

## From the sources

OpenBao is an open source identity-based secrets management system. Prior to 2.6.0, templated ACL, PKI, and SSH policies could substitute attacker-controlled identity data without rejecting syntax-significant characters. In ACL templated policies, asterisks, plus signs, and slashes could alter path matching. In PKI allowed_uri_sans_template and allowed_domains policies, an asterisk could broaden certificate issuance to unauthorized domains. In SSH allowed_users and allowed_domains policies, a comma could add unauthorized principals. Exploitation requires a deployment to use templated policy data that users can freely modify; templates based on the randomly generated identity.entity.id value are not affected. This could allow privilege escalation, unauthorized access, and unauthorized certificate issuance. This issue is fixed in version 2.6.0.

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_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_