Your RSA-2048 keys break in 2030. Find every one of them before attackers do.
📦 GitHub Actions

GHSA-g699-3x6g-wm3g

Egress Policy Bypass via DNS over TCP in Harden-Runner (Community Tier)

Also known asCVE-2026-32946
Published
Mar 17, 2026
Updated
Mar 20, 2026
Affected
1 pkg
Patched
1 / 1
Exploits
None indexed

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
0.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk16th percentile+0.16%
0.00%0.25%0.50%0.75%0.1%0.1%0.1%0.3%Apr 26Jun 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

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

A vulnerability exists in the Community Tier of Harden-Runner that allows bypassing the egress-policy: block network restriction using DNS queries over TCP.

Harden-Runner enforces egress policies on GitHub runners by filtering outbound connections at the network layer. When egress-policy: block is enabled with a restrictive allowed-endpoints list (e.g., only github.com:443), all non-compliant traffic should be denied. However, DNS queries over TCP, commonly used for large responses or fallback from UDP, are not adequately restricted. Tools like dig can explicitly initiate TCP-based DNS queries (+tcp flag) without being blocked.

This vulnerability requires the attacker to already have code execution capabilities within the GitHub Actions workflow.

The Enterprise Tier of Harden-Runner is not affected by this vulnerability.

Impact

When Harden-Runner is configured with egress-policy: block and a restrictive allowed-endpoints list, an attacker with existing code execution capabilities within a GitHub Actions workflow can bypass the egress block policy by initiating DNS queries over TCP to external resolvers. This allows outbound network communication that evades the configured network restrictions.

This vulnerability affects only the Community Tier. It requires the attacker to already have code execution capabilities within the GitHub Actions workflow.

Remediation

For Community Tier Users

Upgrade to Harden-Runner v2.16.0 or later.

For Enterprise Tier Users

No action required. Enterprise tier customers are not affected by this vulnerability.

Credit

We would like to thank Devansh Batham for responsibly disclosing this vulnerability through our security reporting process.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
📦GitHub Actionsstep-security/harden-runnerall versions2.16.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency
  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for step-security/harden-runner. 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

    Update step-security/harden-runner to 2.16.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-g699-3x6g-wm3g is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  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-g699-3x6g-wm3g 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-g699-3x6g-wm3g. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

## Summary A vulnerability exists in the Community Tier of Harden-Runner that allows bypassing the `egress-policy: block` network restriction using DNS queries over TCP. Harden-Runner enforces egress policies on GitHub runners by filtering outbound connections at the network layer. When `egress-policy: block` is enabled with a restrictive allowed-endpoints list (e.g., only `github.com:443`), all non-compliant traffic should be denied. However, DNS queries over TCP, commonly used for large responses or fallback from UDP, are not adequately restricted. Tools like `dig` can explicitly initiate
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-g699-3x6g-wm3g in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-g699-3x6g-wm3g across GitHub Actions dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.