Summary
OpenBao's Namespace Deletion May Not Delete Data Properly
Workarounds
Users may manually remove mounts prior to deleting the namespace.
Audit logs may be used to identify repeated deletion attempts against the same namespace; sys/raw can be used to see what leases were not correctly deleted.
Impact
When OpenBao's initial namespace deletion fails, subsequent retries fail to properly remove all data before marking the namespace as deleted. This can affect any outstanding leases as well as potentially leaving unrelated storage entries around.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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This will be patched in OpenBao v2.5.3.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-42186? CVE-2026-42186 is a low-severity security vulnerability in github.com/openbao/openbao (go), affecting versions < 0.0.0-20260420173541-6d2e0506e2b4. It is fixed in 0.0.0-20260420173541-6d2e0506e2b4.
- Which versions of github.com/openbao/openbao are affected by CVE-2026-42186? github.com/openbao/openbao (go) versions < 0.0.0-20260420173541-6d2e0506e2b4 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-42186? Yes. CVE-2026-42186 is fixed in 0.0.0-20260420173541-6d2e0506e2b4. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-42186 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-42186 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-42186 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-42186? Upgrade
github.com/openbao/openbaoto 0.0.0-20260420173541-6d2e0506e2b4 or later.