CVE-2026-40886: CWE-129: Improper Validation of Array Index in argoproj argo-workflows
Argo Workflows is an open source container-native workflow engine for orchestrating parallel jobs on Kubernetes. From 3.6.5 to 4.0.4, an unchecked array index in the pod informer's podGCFromPod() function causes a controller-wide panic when a workflow pod carries a malformed workflows.argoproj.io/pod-gc-strategy annotation. Because the panic occurs inside an informer goroutine (outside the controller's recover() scope), it crashes the entire controller process. The poisoned pod persists across restarts, causing a crash loop that halts all workflow processing until the pod is manually deleted. This vulnerability is fixed in 4.0.5 and 3.7.14.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
Argo Workflows, a container-native workflow engine for Kubernetes, has an unchecked array index vulnerability (CWE-129) in the podGCFromPod() function of the pod informer. This vulnerability is triggered by a malformed pod-gc-strategy annotation on a workflow pod, causing a panic in an informer goroutine that crashes the entire controller process. The crash loop continues because the poisoned pod remains after restarts, preventing workflow processing. The flaw affects versions from 3.6.5 to 4.0.4 and is resolved in 4.0.5 and 3.7.14.
Potential Impact
The vulnerability causes a denial of service by crashing the Argo Workflows controller process repeatedly, halting all workflow orchestration until the problematic pod is manually removed. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity, but availability is severely affected. The CVSS score is 7.7 (high), reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and a complete impact on availability with no impact on confidentiality or integrity.
Mitigation Recommendations
A fix is available in Argo Workflows versions 4.0.5 and 3.7.14. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to resolve the vulnerability. Until upgrading, manual deletion of any pods with malformed workflows.argoproj.io/pod-gc-strategy annotations can temporarily mitigate the crash loop. Patch status beyond these versions is not explicitly stated but upgrading to the fixed versions is the recommended remediation.
CVE-2026-40886: CWE-129: Improper Validation of Array Index in argoproj argo-workflows
Description
Argo Workflows is an open source container-native workflow engine for orchestrating parallel jobs on Kubernetes. From 3.6.5 to 4.0.4, an unchecked array index in the pod informer's podGCFromPod() function causes a controller-wide panic when a workflow pod carries a malformed workflows.argoproj.io/pod-gc-strategy annotation. Because the panic occurs inside an informer goroutine (outside the controller's recover() scope), it crashes the entire controller process. The poisoned pod persists across restarts, causing a crash loop that halts all workflow processing until the pod is manually deleted. This vulnerability is fixed in 4.0.5 and 3.7.14.
CVSS v3.1
Score 7.7high
Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
Argo Workflows, a container-native workflow engine for Kubernetes, has an unchecked array index vulnerability (CWE-129) in the podGCFromPod() function of the pod informer. This vulnerability is triggered by a malformed pod-gc-strategy annotation on a workflow pod, causing a panic in an informer goroutine that crashes the entire controller process. The crash loop continues because the poisoned pod remains after restarts, preventing workflow processing. The flaw affects versions from 3.6.5 to 4.0.4 and is resolved in 4.0.5 and 3.7.14.
Potential Impact
The vulnerability causes a denial of service by crashing the Argo Workflows controller process repeatedly, halting all workflow orchestration until the problematic pod is manually removed. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity, but availability is severely affected. The CVSS score is 7.7 (high), reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and a complete impact on availability with no impact on confidentiality or integrity.
Mitigation Recommendations
A fix is available in Argo Workflows versions 4.0.5 and 3.7.14. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to resolve the vulnerability. Until upgrading, manual deletion of any pods with malformed workflows.argoproj.io/pod-gc-strategy annotations can temporarily mitigate the crash loop. Patch status beyond these versions is not explicitly stated but upgrading to the fixed versions is the recommended remediation.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- GitHub_M
- Date Reserved
- 2026-04-15T15:57:41.719Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- null
Threat ID: 69ea6a1a87115cfb68455b90
Added to database: 4/23/2026, 6:51:06 PM
Last enriched: 5/1/2026, 8:40:03 PM
Last updated: 6/8/2026, 7:27:38 AM
Views: 61
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