---
id: CVE-2026-105818
title: >-
  Vault's PKI secrets engine ACME server did not restrict certificate identities
  that ACME challenges do not validate when issuing certificates under the
  default directory policy
summary: >-
  Vault's PKI secrets engine ACME server did not restrict certificate identities
  that ACME challenges do not validate when issuing certificates under the
  default directory policy. This may allow an ACME client to obtain a
  certificate conta…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.9
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N'
cwe:
  - CWE-345
vendor: HashiCorp
product: Vault
affected:
  - Vault >= 1.14.0 < 2.1.2
  - vault_enterprise >= 1.14.0 < 2.1.2
published: '2026-10-07'
updated: '2026-10-07'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-07T22:17:02.843'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-105818'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://discuss.hashicorp.com/t/hcsec-2026-40-vault-pki-acme-default-directory-policy-may-issue-certificates-with-unverified-identities/77812
    label: security@hashicorp.com
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-10-07T21:54:15.105Z'
---

## Overview

Vault's PKI secrets engine ACME server did not restrict certificate identities that ACME challenges do not validate when issuing certificates under the default directory policy. This may allow an ACME client to obtain a certificate containing unverified identity claims, potentially enabling impersonation toward systems that trust certificates issued by the affected Vault PKI mount. This vulnerability (CVE-2026-105818) is fixed in Vault Community Edition 2.1.2, and Vault Enterprise 2.1.2, 1.21.12, 1.20.17, and 1.19.23.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.