How severe is CVE-2023-22736?

CVE-2023-22736 has a CVSS score of 8.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-22736?

CVE-2023-22736 affects the following packages: github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 (Go), github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2023-22736?

Update github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 to 2.5.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-22736 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-22736 in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-22736 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

How does O3 Security protect against CVE-2023-22736?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-22736 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2023-22736 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2023-22736 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2023-22736?

CVE-2023-22736 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.8%, placing it in the 51th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

When was CVE-2023-22736 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-22736 was published on January 26, 2023 and was last updated on April 10, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CVE-2023-22736: v2 (High 8.5)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.8%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk51th percentile+0.65%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Blast Radius

2 pkgs affected

🐹github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2🐹github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Argo CD is a declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. Versions starting with 2.5.0-rc1 and above, prior to 2.5.8, and version 2.6.0-rc4, are vulnerable to an authorization bypass bug which allows a malicious Argo CD user to deploy Applications outside the configured allowed namespaces. Reconciled Application namespaces are specified as a comma-delimited list of glob patterns. When sharding is enabled on the Application controller, it does not enforce that list of patterns when reconciling Applications. For example, if Application namespaces are configured to be argocd-*, the Application controller may reconcile an Application installed in a namespace called other, even though it does not start with argocd-. Reconciliation of the out-of-bounds Application is only triggered when the Application is updated, so the attacker must be able to cause an update operation on the Application resource. This bug only applies to users who have explicitly enabled the "apps-in-any-namespace" feature by setting application.namespaces in the argocd-cmd-params-cm ConfigMap or otherwise setting the --application-namespaces flags on the Application controller and API server components. The apps-in-any-namespace feature is in beta as of this Security Advisory's publish date. The bug is also limited to Argo CD instances where sharding is enabled by increasing the replicas count for the Application controller. Finally, the AppProjects' sourceNamespaces field acts as a secondary check against this exploit. To cause reconciliation of an Application in an out-of-bounds namespace, an AppProject must be available which permits Applications in the out-of-bounds namespace. A patch for this vulnerability has been released in versions 2.5.8 and 2.6.0-rc5. As a workaround, running only one replica of the Application controller will prevent exploitation of this bug. Making sure all AppProjects' sourceNamespaces are restricted within the confines of the configured Application namespaces will also prevent exploitation of this bug.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2`	≥ 2.5.0-rc1&&< 2.5.8	2.5.8
🐹Go	`github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2`	≥ 2.6.0-rc4&&< 2.6.0-rc5	2.6.0-rc5

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 to 2.5.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-22736 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-22736 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Tailored to CVE-2023-22736. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Argo CD is a declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. Versions starting with 2.5.0-rc1 and above, prior to 2.5.8, and version 2.6.0-rc4, are vulnerable to an authorization bypass bug which allows a malicious Argo CD user to deploy Applications outside the configured allowed namespaces. Reconciled Application namespaces are specified as a comma-delimited list of glob patterns. When sharding is enabled on the Application controller, it does not enforce that list of patterns when reconciling Applications. For example, if Application namespaces are configured to be argocd-*, th

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2023-22736 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2023-22736 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVE-2023-22736