diff --git a/.changelog/16259.txt b/.changelog/16259.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dd73aaf6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/16259.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:improvement
+ca: support Vault agent auto-auth config for Vault CA provider using AppRole authentication.
+```
diff --git a/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault.go b/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault.go
index e8b14e412..d14fd0a4d 100644
--- a/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault.go
+++ b/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault.go
@@ -944,6 +944,8 @@ func configureVaultAuthMethod(authMethod *structs.VaultAuthMethod) (VaultAuthent
 		return NewGCPAuthClient(authMethod)
 	case VaultAuthMethodTypeJWT:
 		return NewJwtAuthClient(authMethod)
+	case VaultAuthMethodTypeAppRole:
+		return NewAppRoleAuthClient(authMethod)
 	case VaultAuthMethodTypeKubernetes:
 		return NewK8sAuthClient(authMethod)
 	// These auth methods require a username for the login API path.
@@ -968,7 +970,6 @@ func configureVaultAuthMethod(authMethod *structs.VaultAuthMethod) (VaultAuthent
 			"please provide the token with the 'token' parameter in the CA configuration")
 	// The rest of the auth methods use auth/<auth method path> login API path.
 	case VaultAuthMethodTypeAliCloud,
-		VaultAuthMethodTypeAppRole,
 		VaultAuthMethodTypeCloudFoundry,
 		VaultAuthMethodTypeGitHub,
 		VaultAuthMethodTypeKerberos,
diff --git a/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault_auth_approle.go b/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault_auth_approle.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fad6011fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault_auth_approle.go
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+package ca
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/structs"
+)
+
+// left out 2 config options as we are re-using vault agent's auth config.
+// Why?
+// remove_secret_id_file_after_reading - don't remove what we don't own
+// secret_id_response_wrapping_path - wrapping the secret before writing to disk
+//                                    (which we don't need to do)
+
+func NewAppRoleAuthClient(authMethod *structs.VaultAuthMethod) (*VaultAuthClient, error) {
+	authClient := NewVaultAPIAuthClient(authMethod, "")
+	// check for hardcoded /login params
+	if legacyCheck(authMethod.Params, "role_id", "secret_id") {
+		return authClient, nil
+	}
+
+	// check for required config params
+	key := "role_id_file_path"
+	if val, ok := authMethod.Params[key].(string); !ok {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("missing '%s' value", key)
+	} else if strings.TrimSpace(val) == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("'%s' value is empty", key)
+	}
+	authClient.LoginDataGen = ArLoginDataGen
+
+	return authClient, nil
+}
+
+func ArLoginDataGen(authMethod *structs.VaultAuthMethod) (map[string]any, error) {
+	// don't need to check for legacy params as this func isn't used in that case
+	params := authMethod.Params
+	// role_id is required
+	roleIdFilePath := params["role_id_file_path"].(string)
+	// secret_id is optional (secret_ok is used in check below)
+	// secretIdFilePath, secret_ok := params["secret_id_file_path"].(string)
+	secretIdFilePath, hasSecret := params["secret_id_file_path"].(string)
+	if hasSecret && strings.TrimSpace(secretIdFilePath) == "" {
+		hasSecret = false
+	}
+
+	var err error
+	var rawRoleID, rawSecretID []byte
+	data := make(map[string]any)
+	if rawRoleID, err = os.ReadFile(roleIdFilePath); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	data["role_id"] = string(rawRoleID)
+	if hasSecret {
+		switch rawSecretID, err = os.ReadFile(secretIdFilePath); {
+		case err != nil:
+			return nil, err
+		case len(bytes.TrimSpace(rawSecretID)) > 0:
+			data["secret_id"] = strings.TrimSpace(string(rawSecretID))
+		}
+	}
+
+	return data, nil
+}
diff --git a/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault_auth_test.go b/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault_auth_test.go
index 6601f9f4b..45377b03a 100644
--- a/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault_auth_test.go
+++ b/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault_auth_test.go
@@ -568,3 +568,97 @@ func TestVaultCAProvider_K8sAuthClient(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestVaultCAProvider_AppRoleAuthClient(t *testing.T) {
+	roleID, secretID := "test_role_id", "test_secret_id"
+
+	roleFd, err := os.CreateTemp("", "role")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	_, err = roleFd.WriteString(roleID)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	err = roleFd.Close()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	secretFd, err := os.CreateTemp("", "secret")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	_, err = secretFd.WriteString(secretID)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	err = secretFd.Close()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	roleIdPath := roleFd.Name()
+	secretIdPath := secretFd.Name()
+
+	defer func() {
+		os.Remove(secretFd.Name())
+		os.Remove(roleFd.Name())
+	}()
+
+	cases := map[string]struct {
+		authMethod *structs.VaultAuthMethod
+		expData    map[string]any
+		expErr     error
+	}{
+		"base-case": {
+			authMethod: &structs.VaultAuthMethod{
+				Type: "approle",
+				Params: map[string]any{
+					"role_id_file_path":   roleIdPath,
+					"secret_id_file_path": secretIdPath,
+				},
+			},
+			expData: map[string]any{
+				"role_id":   roleID,
+				"secret_id": secretID,
+			},
+		},
+		"optional-secret-left-out": {
+			authMethod: &structs.VaultAuthMethod{
+				Type: "approle",
+				Params: map[string]any{
+					"role_id_file_path": roleIdPath,
+				},
+			},
+			expData: map[string]any{
+				"role_id": roleID,
+			},
+		},
+		"missing-role-id-file-path": {
+			authMethod: &structs.VaultAuthMethod{
+				Type:   "approle",
+				Params: map[string]any{},
+			},
+			expErr: fmt.Errorf("missing '%s' value", "role_id_file_path"),
+		},
+		"legacy-direct-values": {
+			authMethod: &structs.VaultAuthMethod{
+				Type: "approle",
+				Params: map[string]any{
+					"role_id":   "test-role",
+					"secret_id": "test-secret",
+				},
+			},
+			expData: map[string]any{
+				"role_id":   "test-role",
+				"secret_id": "test-secret",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for k, c := range cases {
+		t.Run(k, func(t *testing.T) {
+			auth, err := NewAppRoleAuthClient(c.authMethod)
+			if c.expErr != nil {
+				require.Error(t, err)
+				require.EqualError(t, c.expErr, err.Error())
+				return
+			}
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			if auth.LoginDataGen != nil {
+				data, err := auth.LoginDataGen(c.authMethod)
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+				require.Equal(t, c.expData, data)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault_test.go b/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault_test.go
index 80fbff45c..7242dda99 100644
--- a/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault_test.go
+++ b/agent/connect/ca/provider_vault_test.go
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ func TestVaultCAProvider_configureVaultAuthMethod(t *testing.T) {
 		hasLDG       bool
 	}{
 		"alicloud":    {expLoginPath: "auth/alicloud/login"},
-		"approle":     {expLoginPath: "auth/approle/login"},
+		"approle":     {expLoginPath: "auth/approle/login", params: map[string]any{"role_id_file_path": "test-path"}, hasLDG: true},
 		"aws":         {expLoginPath: "auth/aws/login", params: map[string]interface{}{"type": "iam"}, hasLDG: true},
 		"azure":       {expLoginPath: "auth/azure/login", params: map[string]interface{}{"role": "test-role", "resource": "test-resource"}, hasLDG: true},
 		"cf":          {expLoginPath: "auth/cf/login"},