# CVE-2026-71543: OpenBao templated policies privilege escalation via wildcard characters

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-71543-openbao-templated-policies-privilege-escalation-via-wildcard  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-09-21. Updated: 2026-09-25  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-71543 · Severity: high · CVSS 4 · Published 2026-09-21

OpenBao, a secrets management and encryption platform, supports templated policies that use placeholders to grant fine-grained access control. An attacker can exploit this feature by injecting wildcard characters into user-controllable data, bypassing intended access restrictions and escalating privileges across ACL policies, PKI certificate issuance, and SSH certificate generation. This affects deployments where users can modify data used in policy templates, potentially allowing unauthorized access to sensitive resources and certificate issuance.

Technologies: [github.com/openbao/openbao (Go)](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/github-com-openbao-openbao), [OpenBao](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/openbao). Vendors: [Go](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/go), [OpenBao](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/openbao).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-71543 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-71543 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-71543?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 4, published 21 September 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** github.com/openbao/openbao (Go) SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=0.0.0-20260710001938-2d4ebafec5c5, SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=0.0.0-20260710001938-2d4ebafec5c5,introduced=0.1.0; OpenBao before 2.6.0.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-71543?** Yes. github.com/openbao/openbao (Go): upgrade to 0.0.0-20260710001938-2d4ebafec5c5 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-71543 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a hosted service.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-71543?** Check whether you run github.com/openbao/openbao (Go) or OpenBao at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## How to fix

- github.com/openbao/openbao (Go): upgrade to 0.0.0-20260710001938-2d4ebafec5c5 or later

  ```sh
  go get github.com/openbao/openbao@v0.0.0-20260710001938-2d4ebafec5c5
  ```


## Technical details

The vulnerability exists in OpenBao's templated policy system across three engines: ACL policies (vulnerable to `*`, `+`, `/` wildcards), PKI secrets engine (vulnerable to `*` in allowed_uri_sans_template and allowed_domains), and SSH secrets engine (vulnerable to `,` in allowed_users and allowed_domains). When a policy template uses placeholder substitution and the substituted data is user-controllable, an attacker can inject wildcard or delimiter characters to expand access beyond intended scope. For example, injecting `*` in a username template allows matching all entries instead of a single user. The attack requires an attacker to control the data used in template evaluation, typically through username selection or similar user-configurable attributes. Patches are available in OpenBao v2.6.0.

## Affected products

- OpenBao OpenBao before 2.6.0

## Identifiers

- CVE-2026-71543
- BIT-OPENBAO-2026-71543
- GHSA-59w7-v8rr-pr4p
- GO-2026-6556

## Timeline

- 2026-09-22: disclosed
- 2026-09-22: patched: OpenBao v2.6.0

## Related threats

- [OpenBao policy cache incorrect authorization via namespace traversal](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-115365-openbao-from-2-3-0-before-2-6-3-contains-an-incorrect)
- [OpenBao ACL bypass in policy denial evaluation](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-115361-openbao-before-2-6-3-contains-an-acl-bypass-vulnerability-that)
- [OpenBao Kubernetes Auth token renewal on revoked credentials](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-115356-openbao-before-2-6-4-and-2-7-x-before-2-7-1-does-not-verify-when)
- [OpenBao Agent information disclosure via stdout in exec rendering mode](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-77285-openbao-agent-information-disclosure-via-stdout-in-exec-rendering)
- [OpenBao recovery mode timing attack token leakage](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-63132-openbao-recovery-mode-timing-attack-token-leakage)