GHSA-h3qr-39j9-4r5v — gradle/gradle-build-action
HIGHGHSA-h3qr-39j9-4r5v is a high-severity (CVSS 7.6) Information Exposure vulnerability in gradle/gradle-build-action. A fix is available for gradle/gradle-build-action — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Data written to GitHub Actions Cache may expose secrets
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 GHSA-h3qr-39j9-4r5v.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-h3qr-39j9-4r5v plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 376,715 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
gradle/gradle-build-actionReal-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
Impact
This vulnerability impacts GitHub workflows using the Gradle Build Action that have executed the Gradle Build Tool with the configuration cache enabled, potentially exposing secrets configured for the repository.
Secrets configured for GitHub Actions are normally passed to the Gradle Build Tool via environment variables. Due to the way that the Gradle Build Tool records these environment variables, they may be persisted into an entry in the GitHub Actions cache. This data stored in the GitHub Actions cache can be read by a GitHub Actions workflow running in an untrusted context, such as that running for a Pull Request submitted by a developer via a repository fork.
This vulnerability was discovered internally through code review, and we have not seen any evidence of it being exploited in the wild. However, in addition to upgrading the Gradle Build Action, you should delete any potentially vulnerable cache entries and may choose to rotate any potentially affected secrets (see Remediation).
Patches
Gradle Build Action v2.4.2 (and newer) no longer save this sensitive data for later use, preventing ongoing leakage of secrets via the GitHub Actions Cache. We strongly recommend that all users of the Gradle Build Action upgrade to v2.4.2 (or simply v2) immediately.
Remediation
While upgrading to the latest version of the Gradle Build Action will prevent leakage of secrets going forward, additional actions may be required due to current or previous GitHub Actions Cache entries containing this information.
Current cache entries will remain vulnerable until they are forcibly deleted or they expire naturally after 7 days of not being used. Potentially vulnerable entries can be easily identified in the GitHub UI by searching for a cache entry with key matching configuration-cache-*. We recommend that users of the Gradle Build Action inspect their list of cache entries and manually delete any that match this pattern.
While we have not seen any evidence of this vulnerability being exploited, we recommend cycling any repository secrets if you cannot be certain that these have not been compromised. Compromise could occur if you run a GitHub Actions workflow for a pull request attempting to exploit this data. Warning signs to look for in a pull request include:
- Making changes to GitHub Actions workflow files in a way that may attempt to read/extract data from the Gradle User Home or <project-root>/.gradle directories.
- Making changes to Gradle build files or other executable files that may be invoked by a GitHub Actions workflow, in a way that may attempt to read/extract information from these locations.
Workarounds
We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to the latest version of the Gradle Build Action as soon as possible, and delete any potentially vulnerable cache entries from the GitHub Actions cache (see Remediation).
If for some reason this is not possible, users can limit the impact of this vulnerability:
- If the Gradle project does not opt-in to using the configuration cache, then it is not vulnerable.
- If the Gradle project does opt-in to using the configuration-cache by default, then the
--no-configuration-cachecommand-line argument can be used to disable this feature in a GitHub Actions workflow.
In any case, we recommend that users carefully inspect any pull request before approving the execution of GitHub Actions workflows. It may be prudent to require approval for all PRs from external contributors, as described here.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦GitHub Actions | gradle/gradle-build-action | all versions | 2.4.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for gradle/gradle-build-action, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update gradle/gradle-build-action to 2.4.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-h3qr-39j9-4r5v 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-h3qr-39j9-4r5v can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-h3qr-39j9-4r5v. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-h3qr-39j9-4r5v in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-h3qr-39j9-4r5v across GitHub Actions dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.