How severe is CVE-2023-50726?

CVE-2023-50726 has a CVSS score of 6.4/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-50726?

CVE-2023-50726 affects the following packages: github.com/argoproj/argo-cd (Go), github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 (Go), github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 (Go), github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2023-50726?

A fix is available for CVE-2023-50726; check the affected-versions list above or the advisory for the patched release of github.com/argoproj/argo-cd, then make sure no transitive dependency still pins the vulnerable range.

How do I detect CVE-2023-50726 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, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-50726 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Close the privilege gap rather than the entry point: audit which accounts, roles and service identities can reach the affected operation, drop the component to the least privilege it actually needs, and review file and directory permissions created by earlier installs — a default left in place is what makes this reachable.

Is CVE-2023-50726 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2023-50726 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-2023-50726?

CVE-2023-50726 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.5%, placing it in the 45th 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.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2023-50726?

CVE-2023-50726 is classified as Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269), CWE-863 (CWE-863). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2023-50726 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-50726 was published on March 13, 2024 and was last updated on October 28, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐹

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2023-50726 — argo-cd

MEDIUMFix: argoproj/argo-cd@3b8f673

CVE-2023-50726 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.4) Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in github.com/argoproj/argo-cd. A fix is available for github.com/argoproj/argo-cd — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Users with `create` but not `override` privileges can perform local sync in argo-cd

Also known asBIT-argo-cd-2023-50726GHSA-g623-jcgg-mhmmGO-2024-2643

Published

Mar 13, 2024

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

4 pkgs

Patched

3 / 4

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 8, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-50726.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs45th percentile — riskier than 45% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

4 pkgs affected

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

Impact

"Local sync" is an Argo CD feature that allows developers to temporarily override an Application's manifests with locally-defined manifests. Use of the feature should generally be limited to highly-trusted users, since it allows the user to bypass any merge protections in git.

An improper validation bug allows users who have create privileges but not override privileges to sync local manifests on app creation. All other restrictions, including AppProject restrictions are still enforced. The only restriction which is not enforced is that the manifests come from some approved git/Helm/OCI source.

The bug was introduced in 1.2.0-rc1 when the local manifest sync feature was added.

Patches

The bug has been patched in the following versions:

2.10.3
2.9.8
2.8.12

Workarounds

To immediately mitigate the risk of branch protection bypass, remove applications, create RBAC access. The only way to eliminate the issue without removing RBAC access is to upgrade to a patched version.

Branch protection rules and review requirements are a great way to enforce security constraints in a GitOps environment, but they should be just one layer in a multi-layered approach. Make sure your AppProject and RBAC restrictions are as thorough as possible to prevent a review bypass vulnerability from permitting excessive damage.

References

Argo CD RBAC documentation

For more information

Open an issue in the Argo CD issue tracker or discussions
Join us on Slack in channel #argo-cd

Affected Packages

4 total 3 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/argoproj/argo-cd`	≥ 1.2.0-rc1	No fix
🐹Go	`github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2`	≥ 2.9.0&&< 2.9.8	2.9.8`go get github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2@v2.9.8`
🐹Go	`github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2`	≥ 2.10.0&&< 2.10.3	2.10.3`go get github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2@v2.10.3`
🐹Go	`github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2`	≥ 2.0.0-rc3&&< 2.8.12	2.8.12`go get github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2@v2.8.12`

Affected Products

1 product · 3 configurations

Application

argo cdargoproj

≥ 2.10.0 && < 2.10.3

range

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, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
A fix is available for CVE-2023-50726; check the affected-versions list above or the advisory for the patched release of github.com/argoproj/argo-cd, then make sure no transitive dependency still pins the vulnerable range.
Workarounds
Close the privilege gap rather than the entry point: audit which accounts, roles and service identities can reach the affected operation, drop the component to the least privilege it actually needs, and review file and directory permissions created by earlier installs — a default left in place is what makes this reachable.

Fixing This On Your OS

If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.

Red HatModerate

Workaround published by Red Hat

To mitigate the risk of branch protection bypass, remove applications and create RBAC access.

Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2023-50726 (CC BY 4.0)

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
Red Hat OpenShift GitOps 1.10	`openshift-gitops-1/argocd-rhel8:v1.10.4-1`	RHSA-2024:1700
Red Hat OpenShift GitOps 1.11	`openshift-gitops-1/argocd-rhel8:v1.11.3-2`	RHSA-2024:1697
Red Hat OpenShift GitOps 1.12	`openshift-gitops-argocd-cli-0:1.12.1-5.el8`	RHSA-2024:1752
Red Hat OpenShift GitOps 1.12	`openshift-gitops-1/argocd-rhel8:v1.12.1-1`	RHSA-2024:1753

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact "Local sync" is an Argo CD feature that allows developers to temporarily override an Application's manifests with locally-defined manifests. Use of the feature should generally be limited to highly-trusted users, since it allows the user to bypass any merge protections in git. An improper validation bug allows users who have `create` privileges but not `override` privileges to sync local manifests on app creation. All other restrictions, including AppProject restrictions are still enforced. The only restriction which is _not_ enforced is that the manifests come from some approved