diff --git a/audit/headers.go b/audit/headers.go
index 51d4eddd28..535a61244e 100644
--- a/audit/headers.go
+++ b/audit/headers.go
@@ -163,6 +163,21 @@ func (a *HeadersConfig) Remove(ctx context.Context, header string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// DefaultHeaders can be used to retrieve the set of default headers that will be
+// added to HeadersConfig in order to allow them to appear in audit logs in a raw
+// format. If the Vault Operator adds their own setting for any of the defaults,
+// their setting will be honored.
+func (a *HeadersConfig) DefaultHeaders() map[string]*HeaderSettings {
+	// Support deprecated 'x-' prefix (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6648)
+	const correlationID = "correlation-id"
+	xCorrelationID := fmt.Sprintf("x-%s", correlationID)
+
+	return map[string]*HeaderSettings{
+		correlationID:  {},
+		xCorrelationID: {},
+	}
+}
+
 // Invalidate attempts to refresh the allowed audit headers and their settings.
 // NOTE: Invalidate will acquire a write lock in order to update the underlying headers.
 func (a *HeadersConfig) Invalidate(ctx context.Context) error {
@@ -192,6 +207,14 @@ func (a *HeadersConfig) Invalidate(ctx context.Context) error {
 		lowerHeaders[strings.ToLower(k)] = v
 	}
 
+	// Ensure that we have default headers configured to appear in the audit log.
+	// Add them if they're missing.
+	for header, setting := range a.DefaultHeaders() {
+		if _, ok := lowerHeaders[header]; !ok {
+			lowerHeaders[header] = setting
+		}
+	}
+
 	a.headerSettings = lowerHeaders
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/audit/headers_test.go b/audit/headers_test.go
index 2020b28ce1..e4ff34047f 100644
--- a/audit/headers_test.go
+++ b/audit/headers_test.go
@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ func TestAuditedHeaders_invalidate(t *testing.T) {
 	// Invalidate and check we now see the header we stored
 	err = ahc.Invalidate(context.Background())
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Len(t, ahc.headerSettings, 1)
+	require.Equal(t, len(ahc.DefaultHeaders())+1, len(ahc.headerSettings)) // (defaults + 1).
 	_, ok := ahc.headerSettings["x-magic-header"]
 	require.True(t, ok)
 
@@ -475,7 +475,7 @@ func TestAuditedHeaders_invalidate(t *testing.T) {
 	// Invalidate and check we now see the header we stored
 	err = ahc.Invalidate(context.Background())
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Len(t, ahc.headerSettings, 2)
+	require.Equal(t, len(ahc.DefaultHeaders())+2, len(ahc.headerSettings)) // (defaults + 2 new headers)
 	_, ok = ahc.headerSettings["x-magic-header"]
 	require.True(t, ok)
 	_, ok = ahc.headerSettings["x-even-more-magic-header"]
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ func TestAuditedHeaders_invalidate_nil_view(t *testing.T) {
 	// Invalidate and check we now see the header we stored
 	err = ahc.Invalidate(context.Background())
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Len(t, ahc.headerSettings, 1)
+	require.Equal(t, len(ahc.DefaultHeaders())+1, len(ahc.headerSettings)) // defaults + 1
 	_, ok := ahc.headerSettings["x-magic-header"]
 	require.True(t, ok)
 
@@ -516,7 +516,7 @@ func TestAuditedHeaders_invalidate_nil_view(t *testing.T) {
 	// Invalidate should clear out the existing headers without error
 	err = ahc.Invalidate(context.Background())
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Len(t, ahc.headerSettings, 0)
+	require.Equal(t, len(ahc.DefaultHeaders()), len(ahc.headerSettings)) // defaults
 }
 
 // TestAuditedHeaders_invalidate_bad_data ensures that we correctly error if the
@@ -584,3 +584,49 @@ func TestAuditedHeaders_headers(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, true, s["juan"].HMAC)
 	require.Equal(t, false, s["john"].HMAC)
 }
+
+// TestAuditedHeaders_invalidate_defaults checks that we ensure any 'default' headers
+// are present after invalidation, and if they were loaded from storage then they
+// do not get overwritten with our defaults.
+func TestAuditedHeaders_invalidate_defaults(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	view := newMockStorage(t)
+	ahc, err := NewHeadersConfig(view)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, ahc.headerSettings, 0)
+
+	// Store some data using the view.
+	fakeHeaders1 := map[string]*HeaderSettings{"x-magic-header": {}}
+	fakeBytes1, err := json.Marshal(fakeHeaders1)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	err = view.Put(context.Background(), &logical.StorageEntry{Key: auditedHeadersEntry, Value: fakeBytes1})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Invalidate and check we now see the header we stored
+	err = ahc.Invalidate(context.Background())
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, len(ahc.DefaultHeaders())+1, len(ahc.headerSettings)) // (defaults + 1 new header)
+	_, ok := ahc.headerSettings["x-magic-header"]
+	require.True(t, ok)
+	s, ok := ahc.headerSettings["x-correlation-id"]
+	require.True(t, ok)
+	require.False(t, s.HMAC)
+
+	// Add correlation ID specifically with HMAC and make sure it doesn't get blasted away.
+	fakeHeaders1 = map[string]*HeaderSettings{"x-magic-header": {}, "X-Correlation-ID": {HMAC: true}}
+	fakeBytes1, err = json.Marshal(fakeHeaders1)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	err = view.Put(context.Background(), &logical.StorageEntry{Key: auditedHeadersEntry, Value: fakeBytes1})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Invalidate and check we now see the header we stored
+	err = ahc.Invalidate(context.Background())
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, len(ahc.DefaultHeaders())+1, len(ahc.headerSettings)) // (defaults + 1 new header, 1 is also a default)
+	_, ok = ahc.headerSettings["x-magic-header"]
+	require.True(t, ok)
+	s, ok = ahc.headerSettings["x-correlation-id"]
+	require.True(t, ok)
+	require.True(t, s.HMAC)
+}
diff --git a/changelog/26777.txt b/changelog/26777.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1d04c16466
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/26777.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+```release-note:change
+audit: breaking change - Vault now allows audit logs to contain 'correlation-id' and 'x-correlation-id' headers when they 
+are present in the incoming request. By default they are not HMAC'ed (but can be configured to HMAC by Vault Operators).
+```