CVE-2026-54526
Received Received - Intake

Argo Workflows PodSpecPatch Injection Vulnerability

Publication date: 2026-07-16

Last updated on: 2026-07-16

Assigner: GitHub, Inc.

Description
Argo Workflows is an open source container-native workflow engine for orchestrating parallel jobs on Kubernetes. Prior to 3.7.15 and 4.0.6, the allow-list fix for CVE-2026-31892 is incomplete because workflow/util/merge.go ValidateUserOverrides and SanitizeUserWorkflowSpec walk only the top-level fields of WorkflowSpec via reflection, and WorkflowSpec.ArtifactGC is allow-listed wholesale; the struct behind that field, WorkflowLevelArtifactGC, has a PodSpecPatch sub-field whose contents flow unmodified into util.ApplyPodSpecPatch on the artifact-GC pod, the same sink the original fix closed for WorkflowSpec.PodSpecPatch, so a user submitting a Workflow under templateReferencing: Strict or Secure (against a referenced WorkflowTemplate that declares an output artifact and setting spec.artifactGC.strategy: OnWorkflowCompletion) can still inject an arbitrary strategic merge patch into the artifact-GC pod, including hostPath volumes, privileged: true, arbitrary image and command, and hostNetwork: true, defeating the stated purpose of Strict/Secure reference mode. This issue is fixed in versions 3.7.15 and 4.0.6.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-07-16
Last Modified
2026-07-16
Generated
2026-07-16
AI Q&A
2026-07-16
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-54526
EUVD
EUVD-2026-45029

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 4 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
argo workflows to 3.7.15 (inc)
argo workflows to 4.0.6 (inc)
argoproj argo_workflows to 3.7.15 (exc)
argoproj argo_workflows to 4.0.6 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-284 The product does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor.

Attack-Flow Graph

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Executive Summary

CVE-2026-54526 is a privilege escalation vulnerability in Argo Workflows where users with create Workflow permissions can exploit the allow-listed ArtifactGC field in WorkflowSpec to run the artifact-GC Pod with arbitrary service accounts and pod specifications. This bypasses hardened WorkflowTemplate restrictions under Strict/Secure mode by setting nested fields like ServiceAccountName, PodSpecPatch, and PodMetadata within ArtifactGC.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability allows attackers to escalate privileges, access sensitive data, and compromise the host system. Attackers can inject malicious pod specifications through ArtifactGC.PodSpecPatch, enabling privileged mode, mounting host paths, setting host network access, and running arbitrary container images. This occurs under the guise of legitimate workflow execution.

Mitigation Strategies
  • Upgrade Argo Workflows to version 3.7.15 or 4.0.6 or later to address the vulnerability.
  • Review and restrict user permissions to prevent unauthorized workflow creation.
  • Audit existing workflows for suspicious ArtifactGC configurations, particularly nested fields like PodSpecPatch.

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