GHSA-2q5c-qw9c-fmvq CVE-2022-41354 GO-2023-1670
Argo CD authenticated but unauthorized users may enumerate Application names via the API
- Severity
- 5.3 / 10
- Medium · CVSS 3.1
- Exploit chance (EPSS)
- 0.64%
- Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 50.82% of scored vulnerabilities.
- Known exploited
- No
- Not in CISA's catalog
- Weakness
- CWE-203 Observable Discrepancy
- Fix
2.5.16- Upgrade github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 to this version or later
Description
Impact
All versions of Argo CD starting with v0.5.0 are vulnerable to an information disclosure bug allowing unauthorized users to enumerate application names by inspecting API error messages. An attacker could use the discovered application names as the starting point of another attack. For example, the attacker might use their knowledge of an application name to convince an administrator to grant higher privileges (social engineering).
Many Argo CD API endpoints accept an application name as the only parameter. Since Argo CD RBAC requires both the application name and its configured project name (and, if apps-in-any-namespace is enabled, the application's namespace), Argo CD fetches the requested application before performing the RBAC check. If the application does not exist, the API returns a "not found". If the application does exist, and the user does not have access, the API returns an "unauthorized" error. By trial and error, an attacker can infer which applications exist and which do not.
Note that application resources are not fetched for API calls from unauthenticated users. If your Argo CD instance is accessible from the public internet, unauthenticated users will not be able to cause Argo CD to make Kubernetes API calls.
The patch changes API behavior to return "unauthorized" both when the application is missing and when the user is not authorized to access it. This change in API behavior may impact API clients. Check your code to make sure it will handle the new API behavior properly.
Patches
A patch for this vulnerability has been released in the following Argo CD versions:
- v2.6.7
- v2.5.16
- v2.4.28
Workarounds
There are no workarounds besides upgrading.
Credits
Thank you to bean.zhang of HIT-IDS ChunkL Team who discovered the issue and reported it confidentially according to our guidelines.
For more information
- Open an issue in the Argo CD issue tracker or discussions
- Join us on Slack in channel #argo-cd
Affected versions
Go
| Package | Vulnerable | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| github.com/argoproj/argo-cd | >= 0.5.0, <= 1.8.7 |
No fix yet |
| github.com/argoproj/argo-cd | >= 0.5.0 |
No fix yet |
| github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 | >= 2.5.0, < 2.5.16 |
2.5.16 |
| github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 | >= 2.6.0, < 2.6.7 |
2.6.7 |
| github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 | < 2.4.28 |
2.4.28 |
| github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 | < 2.4.28>= 2.5.0, < 2.5.16>= 2.6.0, < 2.6.7 |
2.4.282.5.162.6.7 |
How to fix
Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.
github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 Go → 2.5.16
- go
go get github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2@v2.5.16 && go mod tidy
Severity breakdown
CVSS 3.1 5.3
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Weakness
CWE-203: Observable Discrepancy
The product behaves differently or sends different responses under different circumstances in a way that is observable to an unauthorized actor.
How to prevent it
- Architecture and Design: Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
- Implementation: Ensure that error messages only contain minimal details that are useful to the intended audience and no one else. The messages need to strike the balance between being too cryptic (which can confuse users) or being too detailed (which may reveal more than intended). The messages should not reveal the methods that were used to determine the error. Attackers can use detailed information to refine or optimize their original attack, thereby increasing their chances of success. If errors must be captured in some detail, record them in log messages, but consider what could occur if the log messages can be viewed by attackers. Highly sensitive information such as passwords should never be saved to log files. Avoid inconsistent messaging that might accidentally tip off an attacker about internal state, such as whether a user account exists or not.
References
Advisories
Packages
Other links
- github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/security/advisories/GHSA-2q5c-qw9c-fmvq
- github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/commit/3a28c8a18cc2aa84fe81492625545d25c7a90bc3
- github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/releases/tag/v2.4.28
- github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/releases/tag/v2.5.16
- github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/releases/tag/v2.6.7
- github.com/chunklhit/cve/blob/master/argo/argo-cd/application_enumeration.md
- argo.com
Timeline
- Published
- Last updated by the source
- Latest EPSS score
Related advisories
| Advisory | Severity | Why it's related |
|---|---|---|
| GHSA-fmxq-cgp8-87wp Argo CD: AppProject destination-namespace and resource restrictions bypassed by PreDelete/PostDelete resource hooks | Critical | Also affects github.com/argoproj/argo-cd |
| GHSA-j6cw-g6p4-7hch Argo CD repo-server command injection via crafted SSH repository SOCKS5 proxy URL | High | Also affects github.com/argoproj/argo-cd |
| GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38 Argo CD: Stored XSS in application link annotations enables developer-to-admin privilege escalation | High | Also affects github.com/argoproj/argo-cd |
| GO-2026-5618 Argo CD: Kubernetes Secret Extraction via ArgoCD ServerSideDiff via sensitive annotations | Medium | Also affects github.com/argoproj/argo-cd |
| GO-2026-5099 ArgoCD ServerSideDiff is vulnerable to Kubernetes Secret Extraction | Critical | Also affects github.com/argoproj/argo-cd |
| GHSA-gpx4-37g2-c8pv Argo CD Unauthenticated Remote DoS via malformed Azure DevOps git.push webhook | High | Also affects github.com/argoproj/argo-cd |
| GHSA-wp4p-9pxh-cgx2 argo-cd vulnerable unauthenticated DoS via malformed Gogs webhook payload | High | Also affects github.com/argoproj/argo-cd |
| GHSA-f9gq-prrc-hrhc Unauthenticated argocd-server panic via a malicious Bitbucket-Server webhook payload | High | Also affects github.com/argoproj/argo-cd |
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