CVE-2026-54168
MEDIUMCVE-2026-54168 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) vulnerability in github.com/openshift-pipelines/pipelines-as-code. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2026-54168 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Tekton Pipelines-as-Code: Unscoped GitHub App installation token allows unauthorized access to private repositories via remote task resolution
Real-World Exposure
github.com/openshift-pipelines/pipelines-as-code🐹github.com/openshift-pipelines/pipelines-as-code🐹github.com/openshift-pipelines/pipelines-as-code🐹github.com/openshift-pipelines/pipelines-as-codeReal-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
When Pipelines-as-Code is configured with a GitHub App installed across multiple repositories, the installation token issued during webhook processing is not scoped to the triggering repository by default. The token retains access to all repositories in the GitHub App installation.
This allows a user with push access to any repository in the installation to craft a PipelineRun with a remote task annotation pointing at a private repository in the same installation:
pipelinesascode.tekton.dev/task: "https://github.com/org/private-repo/blob/main/.tekton/secret-task.yaml"
Pipelines-as-Code resolves and inlines the remote task using the unscoped token, exposing the contents of the private repository's Tekton definitions. This is a read-only confidentiality breach, no write access is exposed.
Patches
The fix extracts the repository ID from the webhook payload during initial parsing so that it is available for later use. It then adds a fallback in the client setup path so that when no explicit scoping configuration is present and ScopeTokenToListOfRepos returns empty, the token is re-issued scoped to the triggering repository's ID rather than retaining access to the entire installation. The initial token remains unscoped so that the extra-repos lookup can still discover and resolve additional repositories when configured.
The fix is available in v0.48.0. Supported backport releases will be added here after release tags are published.
Workarounds
Limit the GitHub App installation to only the repositories that require Pipelines-as-Code. Avoid org-wide installations or mixed-trust installations where repositories with different access requirements share the same GitHub App. This restricts the blast radius of the unscoped token to only the repositories that are explicitly selected during App installation.
Credits
Reported and fixed by the Pipelines-as-Code maintainers.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/openshift-pipelines/pipelines-as-code | all versions | 0.37.8 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/openshift-pipelines/pipelines-as-code | ≥ 0.38.0&&< 0.39.6 | 0.39.6 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/openshift-pipelines/pipelines-as-code | ≥ 0.40.0&&< 0.42.1 | 0.42.1 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/openshift-pipelines/pipelines-as-code | ≥ 0.43.0&&< 0.48.0 | 0.48.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/openshift-pipelines/pipelines-as-code. 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/openshift-pipelines/pipelines-as-code to 0.37.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-54168 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-2026-54168 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-2026-54168. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-54168 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2026-54168 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.