Skip to main content

CVE-2022-29164: CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management in argoproj argo-workflows

Medium
Published: Thu May 05 2022 (05/05/2022, 23:15:12 UTC)
Source: CVE
Vendor/Project: argoproj
Product: argo-workflows

Description

Argo Workflows is an open source container-native workflow engine for orchestrating parallel jobs on Kubernetes. In affected versions an attacker can create a workflow which produces a HTML artifact containing an HTML file that contains a script which uses XHR calls to interact with the Argo Server API. The attacker emails the deep-link to the artifact to their victim. The victim opens the link, the script starts running. As the script has access to the Argo Server API (as the victim), so may read information about the victim’s workflows, or create and delete workflows. Note the attacker must be an insider: they must have access to the same cluster as the victim and must already be able to run their own workflows. The attacker must have an understanding of the victim’s system. We have seen no evidence of this in the wild. We urge all users to upgrade to the fixed versions.

AI-Powered Analysis

AILast updated: 06/23/2025, 08:51:58 UTC

Technical Analysis

CVE-2022-29164 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management) affecting Argo Workflows, an open-source container-native workflow engine used to orchestrate parallel jobs on Kubernetes clusters. The affected versions include all releases from 2.6.0 up to but not including 3.2.11, and from 3.3.0 up to but not including 3.3.5. The vulnerability allows an attacker with existing access to the same Kubernetes cluster and the ability to run workflows to craft a malicious workflow that generates an HTML artifact containing embedded JavaScript. This script, when accessed by a victim user, executes XMLHttpRequest (XHR) calls to the Argo Server API using the victim’s credentials and session context. Consequently, the attacker can leverage the victim’s privileges to read sensitive workflow information, create new workflows, or delete existing ones. The attack vector requires the attacker to send a deep-link URL to the victim, who must open it for the exploit to trigger. This means the attack relies on social engineering within a trusted environment and requires insider access. There is no evidence of exploitation in the wild to date. The root cause is insufficient privilege separation and improper handling of API access within the HTML artifacts generated by workflows, allowing cross-user privilege escalation via client-side scripting. Users are urged to upgrade to patched versions beyond 3.2.11 and 3.3.5 to remediate this issue.

Potential Impact

For European organizations utilizing Argo Workflows in Kubernetes environments, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of workflow orchestration data and processes. An insider attacker can exploit this flaw to access sensitive workflow metadata, potentially exposing intellectual property or operational details. They can also manipulate workflows by creating or deleting jobs, disrupting automated processes critical to business operations, leading to downtime or degraded service. Since the attack requires insider access and victim interaction, the risk is primarily within organizations with multiple users sharing cluster access, such as large enterprises, managed service providers, or research institutions. The ability to escalate privileges via victim browsers could facilitate lateral movement or privilege escalation within the cluster, increasing the threat surface. Given the widespread adoption of Kubernetes and Argo Workflows in European cloud-native infrastructures, this vulnerability could impact sectors including finance, manufacturing, telecommunications, and government agencies that rely on container orchestration for critical workloads.

Mitigation Recommendations

1. Immediate upgrade to Argo Workflows versions 3.2.11 or later, or 3.3.5 or later, where the vulnerability is patched. 2. Implement strict Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) policies to limit which users can create and execute workflows, minimizing insider threat exposure. 3. Enforce network segmentation and isolate Argo Server API endpoints to restrict access only to trusted users and services. 4. Disable or restrict the generation and sharing of HTML artifacts containing executable scripts, or sanitize artifact content to prevent embedded malicious scripts. 5. Educate users about the risks of opening unsolicited deep-links or artifacts, especially those originating from internal sources. 6. Enable audit logging on Argo Server API calls and monitor for unusual workflow creation or deletion patterns indicative of exploitation attempts. 7. Consider implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for accessing the Argo Server UI to reduce risk of session hijacking. 8. Regularly review cluster user permissions and remove unnecessary workflow execution rights. 9. Use network policies to restrict pod-to-pod communication where feasible, limiting the ability of compromised workflows to interact with the Argo Server API.

Need more detailed analysis?Get Pro

Technical Details

Data Version
5.1
Assigner Short Name
GitHub_M
Date Reserved
2022-04-13T00:00:00.000Z
Cisa Enriched
true

Threat ID: 682d9843c4522896dcbf2eeb

Added to database: 5/21/2025, 9:09:23 AM

Last enriched: 6/23/2025, 8:51:58 AM

Last updated: 7/26/2025, 8:29:12 AM

Views: 11

Actions

PRO

Updates to AI analysis are available only with a Pro account. Contact root@offseq.com for access.

Please log in to the Console to use AI analysis features.

Need enhanced features?

Contact root@offseq.com for Pro access with improved analysis and higher rate limits.

Latest Threats