The Vault Secrets Operator versions 1.3.0 through 1.4.1 expose an arbitrary file read flaw when an AppRole secretIDPath is misconfigured. A Kubernetes tenant that has limited RBAC permissions can cause the operator pod to read any file on the pod’s filesystem, then send the payload to a tenant‑controlled endpoint. This permits credential exfiltration and could enable privilege escalation inside the cluster. The weakness corresponds to CWE‑552, an information exposure via directory traversal or file reading.

The affected product is HashiCorp Vault Secrets Operator, a Kubernetes controller that injects secrets into workloads. Versions 1.3.0, 1.3.1, … up to 1.4.1 are vulnerable. The issue is fixed in 1.5.0 and later releases.

The CVSS score of 9.6 indicates critical severity, with exploitation requiring only normal Kubernetes RBAC rights and the use of the AppRole secretIDPath parameter. The EPSS score is not available, but the lack of a KEV listing suggests no widely known public exploit yet. Nevertheless, any tenant able to craft an AppRole secretIDPath can read arbitrary files, transmit them to an external endpoint, and potentially elevate privileges, making this a high‑risk vulnerability for clusters lacking stringent RBAC controls.