diff --git a/builtin/credential/ldap/backend_test.go b/builtin/credential/ldap/backend_test.go
index 74b4e18a1..3ad906612 100644
--- a/builtin/credential/ldap/backend_test.go
+++ b/builtin/credential/ldap/backend_test.go
@@ -1231,6 +1231,7 @@ func TestLdapAuthBackend_ConfigUpgrade(t *testing.T) {
 			UsePre111GroupCNBehavior: new(bool),
 			RequestTimeout:           cfg.RequestTimeout,
 			UsernameAsAlias:          false,
+			DerefAliases:             "never",
 		},
 	}
 
diff --git a/changelog/18230.txt b/changelog/18230.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..335f9670d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/18230.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:improvement
+auth/ldap: allow configuration of alias dereferencing in LDAP search
+```
diff --git a/sdk/helper/ldaputil/client.go b/sdk/helper/ldaputil/client.go
index 8a7ac4822..fab55488f 100644
--- a/sdk/helper/ldaputil/client.go
+++ b/sdk/helper/ldaputil/client.go
@@ -119,10 +119,11 @@ func (c *Client) makeLdapSearchRequest(cfg *ConfigEntry, conn Connection, userna
 		c.Logger.Debug("discovering user", "userdn", cfg.UserDN, "filter", renderedFilter)
 	}
 	ldapRequest := &ldap.SearchRequest{
-		BaseDN:    cfg.UserDN,
-		Scope:     ldap.ScopeWholeSubtree,
-		Filter:    renderedFilter,
-		SizeLimit: 2, // Should be only 1 result. Any number larger (2 or more) means access denied.
+		BaseDN:       cfg.UserDN,
+		DerefAliases: ldapDerefAliasMap[cfg.DerefAliases],
+		Scope:        ldap.ScopeWholeSubtree,
+		Filter:       renderedFilter,
+		SizeLimit:    2, // Should be only 1 result. Any number larger (2 or more) means access denied.
 		Attributes: []string{
 			cfg.UserAttr, // Return only needed attributes
 		},
@@ -274,10 +275,11 @@ func (c *Client) GetUserDN(cfg *ConfigEntry, conn Connection, bindDN, username s
 			c.Logger.Debug("searching upn", "userdn", cfg.UserDN, "filter", filter)
 		}
 		result, err := conn.Search(&ldap.SearchRequest{
-			BaseDN:    cfg.UserDN,
-			Scope:     ldap.ScopeWholeSubtree,
-			Filter:    filter,
-			SizeLimit: math.MaxInt32,
+			BaseDN:       cfg.UserDN,
+			Scope:        ldap.ScopeWholeSubtree,
+			DerefAliases: ldapDerefAliasMap[cfg.DerefAliases],
+			Filter:       filter,
+			SizeLimit:    math.MaxInt32,
 		})
 		if err != nil {
 			return userDN, fmt.Errorf("LDAP search failed for detecting user: %w", err)
@@ -335,9 +337,10 @@ func (c *Client) performLdapFilterGroupsSearch(cfg *ConfigEntry, conn Connection
 	}
 
 	result, err := conn.Search(&ldap.SearchRequest{
-		BaseDN: cfg.GroupDN,
-		Scope:  ldap.ScopeWholeSubtree,
-		Filter: renderedQuery.String(),
+		BaseDN:       cfg.GroupDN,
+		Scope:        ldap.ScopeWholeSubtree,
+		DerefAliases: ldapDerefAliasMap[cfg.DerefAliases],
+		Filter:       renderedQuery.String(),
 		Attributes: []string{
 			cfg.GroupAttr,
 		},
@@ -393,9 +396,10 @@ func (c *Client) performLdapFilterGroupsSearchPaging(cfg *ConfigEntry, conn Pagi
 	}
 
 	result, err := conn.SearchWithPaging(&ldap.SearchRequest{
-		BaseDN: cfg.GroupDN,
-		Scope:  ldap.ScopeWholeSubtree,
-		Filter: renderedQuery.String(),
+		BaseDN:       cfg.GroupDN,
+		Scope:        ldap.ScopeWholeSubtree,
+		DerefAliases: ldapDerefAliasMap[cfg.DerefAliases],
+		Filter:       renderedQuery.String(),
 		Attributes: []string{
 			cfg.GroupAttr,
 		},
@@ -442,9 +446,10 @@ func sidBytesToString(b []byte) (string, error) {
 
 func (c *Client) performLdapTokenGroupsSearch(cfg *ConfigEntry, conn Connection, userDN string) ([]*ldap.Entry, error) {
 	result, err := conn.Search(&ldap.SearchRequest{
-		BaseDN: userDN,
-		Scope:  ldap.ScopeBaseObject,
-		Filter: "(objectClass=*)",
+		BaseDN:       userDN,
+		Scope:        ldap.ScopeBaseObject,
+		DerefAliases: ldapDerefAliasMap[cfg.DerefAliases],
+		Filter:       "(objectClass=*)",
 		Attributes: []string{
 			"tokenGroups",
 		},
@@ -470,9 +475,10 @@ func (c *Client) performLdapTokenGroupsSearch(cfg *ConfigEntry, conn Connection,
 		}
 
 		groupResult, err := conn.Search(&ldap.SearchRequest{
-			BaseDN: fmt.Sprintf("<SID=%s>", sidString),
-			Scope:  ldap.ScopeBaseObject,
-			Filter: "(objectClass=*)",
+			BaseDN:       fmt.Sprintf("<SID=%s>", sidString),
+			Scope:        ldap.ScopeBaseObject,
+			DerefAliases: ldapDerefAliasMap[cfg.DerefAliases],
+			Filter:       "(objectClass=*)",
 			Attributes: []string{
 				"1.1", // RFC no attributes
 			},
diff --git a/sdk/helper/ldaputil/config.go b/sdk/helper/ldaputil/config.go
index 43844da22..8da5f2225 100644
--- a/sdk/helper/ldaputil/config.go
+++ b/sdk/helper/ldaputil/config.go
@@ -13,8 +13,17 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/vault/sdk/framework"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/errwrap"
+
+	"github.com/go-ldap/ldap/v3"
 )
 
+var ldapDerefAliasMap = map[string]int{
+	"never":     ldap.NeverDerefAliases,
+	"finding":   ldap.DerefFindingBaseObj,
+	"searching": ldap.DerefInSearching,
+	"always":    ldap.DerefAlways,
+}
+
 // ConfigFields returns all the config fields that can potentially be used by the LDAP client.
 // Not all fields will be used by every integration.
 func ConfigFields() map[string]*framework.FieldSchema {
@@ -226,6 +235,13 @@ Default: ({{.UserAttr}}={{.Username}})`,
 			Description: "Timeout, in seconds, for the connection when making requests against the server before returning back an error.",
 			Default:     "90s",
 		},
+
+		"dereference_aliases": {
+			Type:          framework.TypeString,
+			Description:   "When aliases should be dereferenced on search operations. Accepted values are 'never', 'finding', 'searching', 'always'. Defaults to 'never'.",
+			Default:       "never",
+			AllowedValues: []interface{}{"never", "finding", "searching", "always"},
+		},
 	}
 }
 
@@ -392,6 +408,10 @@ func NewConfigEntry(existing *ConfigEntry, d *framework.FieldData) (*ConfigEntry
 		cfg.RequestTimeout = d.Get("request_timeout").(int)
 	}
 
+	if _, ok := d.Raw["dereference_aliases"]; ok || !hadExisting {
+		cfg.DerefAliases = d.Get("dereference_aliases").(string)
+	}
+
 	return cfg, nil
 }
 
@@ -418,6 +438,7 @@ type ConfigEntry struct {
 	UseTokenGroups           bool   `json:"use_token_groups"`
 	UsePre111GroupCNBehavior *bool  `json:"use_pre111_group_cn_behavior"`
 	RequestTimeout           int    `json:"request_timeout"`
+	DerefAliases             string `json:"dereference_aliases"`
 
 	// These json tags deviate from snake case because there was a past issue
 	// where the tag was being ignored, causing it to be jsonified as "CaseSensitiveNames", etc.
@@ -456,6 +477,7 @@ func (c *ConfigEntry) PasswordlessMap() map[string]interface{} {
 		"anonymous_group_search": c.AnonymousGroupSearch,
 		"request_timeout":        c.RequestTimeout,
 		"username_as_alias":      c.UsernameAsAlias,
+		"dereference_aliases":    c.DerefAliases,
 	}
 	if c.CaseSensitiveNames != nil {
 		m["case_sensitive_names"] = *c.CaseSensitiveNames
diff --git a/sdk/helper/ldaputil/config_test.go b/sdk/helper/ldaputil/config_test.go
index 32edb5dff..fb6513450 100644
--- a/sdk/helper/ldaputil/config_test.go
+++ b/sdk/helper/ldaputil/config_test.go
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ var jsonConfigDefault = []byte(`
   "use_pre111_group_cn_behavior": null,
   "username_as_alias": false,
   "request_timeout": 90,
+  "dereference_aliases": "never",
   "CaseSensitiveNames": false,
   "ClientTLSCert": "",
   "ClientTLSKey": ""
diff --git a/website/content/api-docs/auth/ldap.mdx b/website/content/api-docs/auth/ldap.mdx
index 16aa4ebce..9b0007900 100644
--- a/website/content/api-docs/auth/ldap.mdx
+++ b/website/content/api-docs/auth/ldap.mdx
@@ -91,6 +91,9 @@ This endpoint configures the LDAP auth method.
   returning _user_ objects, use: `memberOf`. The default is `cn`.
 - `username_as_alias` `(bool: false)` - If set to true, forces the auth method
   to use the username passed by the user as the alias name.
+- `dereference_aliases` `(string: never)` - When aliases should be dereferenced
+  on search operations. Accepted values are 'never', 'finding', 'searching',
+  'always'. Defaults to 'never'.
 
 @include 'tokenfields.mdx'
 
diff --git a/website/content/docs/auth/ldap.mdx b/website/content/docs/auth/ldap.mdx
index 82641bf3d..bcb1084a2 100644
--- a/website/content/docs/auth/ldap.mdx
+++ b/website/content/docs/auth/ldap.mdx
@@ -133,6 +133,10 @@ There are two alternate methods of resolving the user object used to authenticat
 
 @include 'ldap-auth-userfilter-warning.mdx'
 
+#### Alias Dereferencing
+
+- `dereference_aliases` (string, optional) - Control how aliases are dereferenced when performing the search. Possible values are: `never`, `finding`, `searching`, and `always`. `finding` will only dereference aliases during name resolution of the base. `searching` will dereference aliases after name resolution.
+
 #### Binding - User Principal Name (AD)
 
 - `upndomain` (string, optional) - userPrincipalDomain used to construct the UPN string for the authenticating user. The constructed UPN will appear as `[username]@UPNDomain`. Example: `example.com`, which will cause vault to bind as `username@example.com`.