[INFO ] core: security barrier not initialized

I am using vault version 1.8.4.
I am using file system as backend.
I have setup the machine on January 2023. It was working till 15th March 2023.
Suddenly one day it come with an issue. [INFO ] core: security barrier not initialized

Please help me to understand, what could be the reason?

Please post the output of

ls -l /path-to-your-vault-storage-directory/core

Thank you for your response.
Please find the outcome of above command

./core:
total 48
-rw------- 1 gehc_security gehc_security 133 Oct 1 2021 _audit
-rw------- 1 gehc_security gehc_security 513 Oct 1 2021 _auth
-rw------- 1 gehc_security gehc_security 133 Oct 1 2021 _local-audit
-rw------- 1 gehc_security gehc_security 133 Oct 1 2021 _local-auth
-rw------- 1 gehc_security gehc_security 417 Oct 1 2021 _local-mounts
-rw------- 1 gehc_security gehc_security 209 Mar 14 21:24 _master
-rw------- 1 gehc_security gehc_security 793 Oct 1 2021 _mounts
-rw------- 1 gehc_security gehc_security 169 Oct 1 2021 _seal-config
-rw------- 1 gehc_security gehc_security 101 Oct 1 2021 _shamir-kek
drwx------ 3 gehc_security gehc_security 4096 Oct 1 2021 cluster
drwx------ 2 gehc_security gehc_security 4096 Oct 1 2021 hsm
drwx------ 2 gehc_security gehc_security 4096 Oct 1 2021 wrapping

From the absence of a _keyring file in this listing, I can infer that you have been bitten by a bug in the file storage backend.

Unfortunately, the loss of the keyring causes a total loss of all Vault data, since it can no longer be decrypted. The only way forward is to set up a new Vault from scratch.

The bug is https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/pull/15946, fixed in 1.12.0 and backported into various patch releases of earlier versions.

Thank you for this information!!

I understood the keyring file will be deleted by vault due to its size is zero.
Can you help me to understand

  • When _keyring file is opened with os.O_TRUNC?
  • When Vault is updating keyring file, in which scenario?
  • Is it possible to reproduce the same issue, any specific steps available?