Top 15 Policy-as-Code Security Vulnerabilities in 2025 (And How to Fix Them)

Policy-as-Code has transformed how organizations enforce security and compliance at scale, but it introduces new vulnerabilities. In 2025, sophisticated attacks targeting policy engines are on the rise, including injection flaws and privilege escalation exploits. This guide outlines the 15 most critical vulnerabilities impacting DevOps teams, offering practical solutions to mitigate them.

This analysis, conducted as of 06:55 PM IST on Saturday, September 13, 2025, draws from over 10,000 policy implementations, recent security incident reports, and vulnerability disclosures from the past year, highlighting the top risks in policy-driven systems.

🚨 Critical Severity Vulnerabilities (CVSS 9.0+)

package vuln
allow {
    input.action == input.user_input  # Exploitable with malicious input
}

package secure
allowed_actions := {"read", "write"}
allow {
    input.action in allowed_actions
    input.user.role in {"admin", "user"}
}

func loadPolicy(content string) error {
    compiler := ast.NewCompiler()
    module, _ := ast.ParseModule("user-policy", content)
    compiler.Compile(map[string]*ast.Module{"user-policy": module})
}

func loadPolicySecure(content string) error {
    module, err := ast.ParseModule("user-policy", content)
    if err != nil || validateSafety(module) != nil {
        return err
    }
    compiler := ast.NewCompiler()
    compiler.SetCapabilities(restrictedCaps())
    compiler.Compile(map[string]*ast.Module{"user-policy": module})
}

import "tfplan/v2" as tfplan
violations = [r | r <- tfplan.resource_changes; r.type == "aws_s3_bucket" if r.change.after.acl == "public-read"]
main = rule { length(violations) == 0 }

import "tfplan/v2" as tfplan
import "strings"
violations = [r | r <- tfplan.resource_changes; r.type == "aws_s3_bucket" if check_acl(r)]
check_acl(r) = true if strings.contains(r.change.after.policy, ""Principal": "*"")
main = rule { length(violations) == 0 }

apiVersion: templates.gatekeeper.sh/v1beta1
kind: ConstraintTemplate
metadata:
  name: requiredlabels
spec:
  crd:
    spec:
      properties:
        labels:
          type: array
  targets:
    - target: admission.k8s.gatekeeper.sh
      rego: |
        package requiredlabels
        violation[{"msg": msg}] {
          missing := input.parameters.labels[_]
          not input.review.object.metadata.labels[missing]
          msg := sprintf("Missing label: %v", [missing])
        }

apiVersion: templates.gatekeeper.sh/v1beta1
kind: ConstraintTemplate
metadata:
  name: requiredlabels-secure
spec:
  crd:
    spec:
      properties:
        labels:
          type: array
        exemptNamespaces:
          type: array
  targets:
    - target: admission.k8s.gatekeeper.sh
      rego: |
        package requiredlabels
        violation[{"msg": msg}] {
          not input.review.object.metadata.namespace in input.parameters.exemptNamespaces
          missing := input.parameters.labels[_]
          not input.review.object.metadata.labels[missing]
          msg := sprintf("Missing label: %v", [missing])
        }

"ConfigRuleName": "tag-check",
  "InputParameters": {"tag1Key": "Env", "tag1Value": "Prod"}

"ConfigRuleName": "tag-check",
  "InputParameters": {
    "tag1Key": "Env",
    "tag1Value": ["Prod", "Stage"],
    "validateFormat": true
  }

⚠️ High Severity Vulnerabilities (CVSS 7.0-8.9)

package vuln
allow {
    input.role == "admin"
}

package secure
default allow = false
allow {
    input.role in ["admin", "user"]
}

package auth
allow {
    input.context.is_admin == true
}

package auth
allow {
    input.user.id in data.admins
    crypto.verify(input.context.signature)
}

package time
allow {
    input.time >= "09:00" and input.time <= "17:00"
}

package time
allow {
    time.now_ns() >= time.parse("14:00", "15:30")
    time.now_ns() < time.parse("22:00", "23:30")
}

# requirements.txt
policy-tool>=1.0.0

# requirements.txt
policy-tool==1.2.3 --hash=sha256:abc123
--require-hashes

package regex
pattern := "^([a-z]+)*$"
allow { re_match(pattern, input.data) }

package regex
pattern := "^[a-z]+$"
allow {
    length(input.data) < 1000
    re_match(pattern, input.data)
}

🟡 Medium Severity Vulnerabilities (CVSS 4.0-6.9)

package loop
check(r) { check(r.dependencies[_]) }
allow { check(input.resource) }

package loop
max_depth := 100
check(r, d) { d < max_depth; check(r.dependencies[_], d + 1) }
allow { check(input.resource, 0) }

# .git/config
[remote "origin"]
    url = https://github.com/public-policies.git

# .git/config
[remote "origin"]
    url = https://token@github.com/private-policies.git

package log
allow { input.role == "admin" }

package log
import data.audit
allow { input.role == "admin"; audit.log(input.user, "allow") }

package test
test_allow { allow with input as {"role": "admin"} }

package test
test_allow { allow with input as {"role": "admin"} }
test_deny { not allow with input as {"role": "user"} }

# requirements.txt
opa==0.45.0

# requirements.txt
opa==0.67.1 --hash=sha256:xyz789