GHSA-p756-rfxh-x63h
LOWAzure/setup-kubectl: Escalation of privilege vulnerability for v3 and lower
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.
Blast Radius
Azure/setup-kubectlReal-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 only impacts versions v2 and lower. An insecure temporary creation of a file allows other actors on the Actions runner to replace the Kubectl binary created by this action because it is world writable. This Kubectl tool installer runs fs.chmodSync(kubectlPath, 777) to set permissions on the Kubectl binary, however, this allows any local user to replace the Kubectl binary. This allows privilege escalation to the user that can also run kubectl, most likely root. This attack is only possible if an attacker somehow breached the GitHub actions runner or if a user is utilizing an Action that maliciously executes this attack.
No impacted customers have been reported.
Patches
This has been fixed and released in all versions v3 and later. 755 permissions are used instead.
Workarounds
If users absolutely cannot upgrade to v3 or higher than they should be extra diligent of the other GitHub actions they are using in a workflow and ensure that their GitHub actions runner is secure.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦GitHub Actions | Azure/setup-kubectl | all versions | 3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for Azure/setup-kubectl. 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 Azure/setup-kubectl to 3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-p756-rfxh-x63h 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 GHSA-p756-rfxh-x63h 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-p756-rfxh-x63h. 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-p756-rfxh-x63h in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-p756-rfxh-x63h 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.