Your RSA-2048 keys break in 2030. Find every one of them before attackers do.
🐹 Go

GHSA-96jv-vj39-x4j6

HIGH

Argo CD improper access control bug can allow malicious user to escalate privileges to admin level

Also known asCVE-2022-1025GO-2022-0516
Published
Jul 13, 2022
Updated
Mar 13, 2026
Affected
4 pkgs
Patched
3 / 4
Exploits
1 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
1.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk62th percentile+0.83%
0.00%0.54%1.08%1.61%0.3%1.1%Dec 25Apr 26Jun 26

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

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

Impacts for versions starting with v1.0.0

All unpatched versions of Argo CD starting with v1.0.0 are vulnerable to an improper access control bug, allowing a malicious user to potentially escalate their privileges to admin-level.

To perform the following exploits, an authorized Argo CD user must have push access to an Application's source git or Helm repository or sync and override access to an Application. Once a user has that access, different exploitation levels are possible depending on their other RBAC privileges:

  1. If that user has update access to the Application, they can modify any resource on the Application's destination cluster. If the destination cluster is or can be made to be the same as the cluster hosting Argo CD, the user can escalate their Argo CD permissions to admin-level.
  2. If the user has delete access to the Application, they can delete any resource on the Application's destination cluster. (This exploit is possible starting with v0.8.0.)
  3. If the user has get access to the Application, they can view any resource on the Application's destination cluster (except for the contents of Secrets) and list actions available for that resource.
  4. If the user has get access to the Application, they can view the logs of any Pods on the Application's destination cluster.
  5. If the user has action/{some action or *} access on the Application, they can run an action for any resource (which supports the allowed action(s)) on the Application's destination cluster. (Some actions are available in Argo CD by default, and others may be configured by an Argo CD admin.)

See the Argo CD RBAC documentation for an explanation of the privileges available in Argo CD.

Events exploit

A related exploit is possible for a user with get access to an Application even if they do not have access to the Application's source git or Helm repository or sync and override access to the Application. The user can access any Event in the Application's destination cluster if they know the involved object's name, UID, and namespace.

Impacts for versions starting with v0.8.0

The same bug exists starting with v0.8.0, but only the following exploits were possible before v1.0.0:

  • The delete exploit (#⁠2 above).
  • The logs exploit (#⁠4 above).
  • The Events exploit described above.

Impacts for versions starting with v0.5.0

The same bug exists starting with v0.5.0 (when RBAC was implemented), but only the Events exploit described above was possible before v0.8.0.

Patches A patch for this vulnerability has been released in the following Argo CD versions:

  • v2.3.2
  • v2.2.8
  • v2.1.14

Versions 2.0.x and earlier users: See the changelog for links to upgrade instructions for your version. It is imperative to upgrade quickly, but some limited mitigations are described in the next section.

argo-helm chart users: Argo CD users deploying v2.3.x with argo-helm can upgrade the chart to version 4.2.2. Argo CD 2.2 and 2.1 users can set the global.image.tag value to the latest in your current release series (v2.2.8, or v2.1.14). Since charts for the 2.2 and 2.1 series are no longer maintained, you will need to either leave the value override in place or upgrade to the 4.x chart series (and therefore to Argo CD 2.3).

Workarounds

The only certain way to avoid the vulnerability is to upgrade.

Mitigations

  • To avoid privilege escalation:
    • Limit who has push access to Application source repositories or sync + override access to Applications.
  • Limit which repositories are available in projects where users have update access to Applications.
    • To avoid unauthorized resource inspection/tampering:
    • Limit who has delete, get, or action access to Applications.

These mitigations can help limit potential damage, but they are not a substitute for upgrading. It is necessary to upgrade immediately.

Affected Packages

4 total 3 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
🐹Gogithub.com/argoproj/argo-cd≥ 0.5.0No fix
🐹Gogithub.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2all versions2.1.14
🐹Gogithub.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2≥ 2.2.0&&< 2.2.82.2.8
🐹Gogithub.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2≥ 2.3.0&&< 2.3.22.3.2
Exploits & PoCs
1

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

All unpatched versions of Argo CD starting with v1.0.0 are vulnerable to…

github.comNVDJul 2022

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/argoproj/argo-cd. 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.

  2. Fix

    No patched version of github.com/argoproj/argo-cd has shipped for GHSA-96jv-vj39-x4j6 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.

  3. 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.

  4. How O3 protects you

    O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-96jv-vj39-x4j6 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 GHSA-96jv-vj39-x4j6. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

# Impact ## Impacts for versions starting with v1.0.0 All unpatched versions of Argo CD starting with v1.0.0 are vulnerable to an improper access control bug, allowing a malicious user to potentially escalate their privileges to admin-level. To perform the following exploits, an authorized Argo CD user must have push access to an Application's source git or Helm repository or `sync` and `override` access to an Application. Once a user has that access, different exploitation levels are possible depending on their other RBAC privileges: 1. If that user has `update` access to the Application,
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-96jv-vj39-x4j6 in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-96jv-vj39-x4j6 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