How severe is CVE-2024-52587?

No CVSS score has been assigned to CVE-2024-52587 yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2024-52587?

CVE-2024-52587 affects the following packages: step-security/harden-runner (GitHub Actions). Ecosystems affected: GitHub Actions.

How do I fix CVE-2024-52587?

Update step-security/harden-runner to 2.10.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-52587 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2024-52587 in my GitHub Actions dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for step-security/harden-runner, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2024-52587 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Is CVE-2024-52587 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2024-52587 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-2024-52587?

CVE-2024-52587 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.8%, placing it in the 86th 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-2024-52587?

CVE-2024-52587 is classified as OS Command Injection (CWE-78). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2024-52587 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2024-52587 was published on November 18, 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.

📦 GitHub Actions

Not in CISA KEV

CVE-2024-52587 — harden-runner

Fix: step-security/harden-runner@0080882

CVE-2024-52587 is a OS Command Injection vulnerability in step-security/harden-runner. A fix is available for step-security/harden-runner — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Harden-Runner has command injection weaknesses in `setup.ts` and `arc-runner.ts`

Also known asGHSA-g85v-wf27-67xc

Published

Nov 18, 2024

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 3, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
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-2024-52587.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.8%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs86th percentile — riskier than 86% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

📦step-security/harden-runner

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

Description

Summary

Versions of step-security/harden-runner prior to v2.10.2 contain multiple command injection weaknesses via environment variables that could potentially be exploited under specific conditions. However, due to the current execution order of pre-steps in GitHub Actions and the placement of harden-runner as the first step in a job, the likelihood of exploitation is low as the Harden-Runner action reads the environment variable during the pre-step stage. There are no known exploits at this time.

Details

setup.ts:169 1 performs execSync with a command that gets invoked after interpretation by the shell. This command includes an interpolated process.env.USER variable, which an attacker could modify (without actually creating a new user) to inject arbitrary shell expressions into this execSync. This may or may not be likely in practice, but I believe the hygienic way to perform the underlying operation is to use execFileSync or similar and bypass the underlying shell evaluation.
setup.ts:229 2 has a nearly identical execSync to (1) above, but with $USER for shell-level interpolation rather than string interpolation. However, this is still injectable and would be best replaced by an execFileSync, per above.
arc-runner:40-44 3 has an execSync with multiple string interpolations. Most of these do not appear immediately injectible (since they appear to come from presumed trusted API responses), but the expansion of getRunnerTempDir() may be injectable due to its dependence on potentially attacker-controllable environment variables (e.g. RUNNER_TEMP). The underlying operation appears to be a trivial file copy, so this entire subprocess should in theory be replaceable with ordinary NodeJS fs API calls instead.
arc-runner:53 4 demonstrates the same weakness, and has the same resolution as (3).
arc-runner:57 demonstrates the same weakness as (3) and (4), and has the same resolution.
arc-runner:61 demonstrates the same weakness as (3), (4), and (5), and has the same resolution.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦GitHub Actions	`step-security/harden-runner`	all versions	2.10.2

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for step-security/harden-runner, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update step-security/harden-runner to 2.10.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-52587 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Summary Versions of step-security/harden-runner prior to v2.10.2 contain multiple command injection weaknesses via environment variables that could potentially be exploited under specific conditions. However, due to the current execution order of pre-steps in GitHub Actions and the placement of harden-runner as the first step in a job, the likelihood of exploitation is low as the Harden-Runner action reads the environment variable during the pre-step stage. There are no known exploits at this time. ### Details 1. setup.ts:169 [1] performs `execSync` with a command that gets invoked af

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2024-52587 in your dependencies?

Find it across GitHub Actions, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works