Vulnerability · Published Jul 16, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2026-54526Argo Workflows: Incomplete fix for CVE-2026-31892: ArtifactGC.PodSpecPatch bypass of Strict/Secure templateReferencing
High 8.9
In plain English
A high-severity improper access control in argo-workflows from argoproj. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.6% (higher than 46% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
Argo Workflows is an open source container-native workflow engine for orchestrating parallel jobs on Kubernetes. Prior to 3.7.15 and 4.0.6, the allow-list fix for CVE-2026-31892 is incomplete because workflow/util/merge.go ValidateUserOverrides and SanitizeUserWorkflowSpec walk only the top-level fields of WorkflowSpec via reflection, and WorkflowSpec.ArtifactGC is allow-listed wholesale; the struct behind that field, WorkflowLevelArtifactGC, has a PodSpecPatch sub-field whose contents flow unmodified into util.ApplyPodSpecPatch on the artifact-GC pod, the same sink the original fix closed for WorkflowSpec.PodSpecPatch, so a user submitting a Workflow under templateReferencing: Strict or Secure (against a referenced WorkflowTemplate that declares an output artifact and setting spec.artifactGC.strategy: OnWorkflowCompletion) can still inject an arbitrary strategic merge patch into the artifact-GC pod, including hostPath volumes, privileged: true, arbitrary image and command, and hostNetwork: true, defeating the stated purpose of Strict/Secure reference mode. This issue is fixed in versions 3.7.15 and 4.0.6.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows | no fix listed | GO-2026-6223 |
| Go | github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows | no fix listed | GHSA-48p8-g2fx-3wwm |
| Go | github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v2 | no fix listed | GO-2026-6223 |
| Go | github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3 | 3.7.15 | GO-2026-6223 |
| Go | github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3 | 3.7.15 | GHSA-48p8-g2fx-3wwm |
| Go | github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v4 | 4.0.6 | GO-2026-6223 |
| Go | github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v4 | 4.0.6 | GHSA-48p8-g2fx-3wwm |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| argoproj | argo-workflows | < 3.7.15>= 4.0.0, < 4.0.6 |
Weakness: CWE-284 · Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
References
- https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/security/advisories/GHSA-48p8-g2fx-3wwm x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/commit/277e9cef0ad16d7eaaab253573d0695951a65dbd x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/commit/358cc3968c8f06f1be0967e41df191088db0b662 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/releases/tag/v3.7.15 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/releases/tag/v4.0.6 x_refsource_MISC