MalwarePublished 20 Mar 2026

Widespread GitHub Actions Tag Compromise Exposes CI/CD Secrets

Source AlienVault OTX General

Description

A new supply chain attack targeting Trivy has compromised 75 out of 76 version tags in the aquasecurity/trivy-action GitHub repository. The attacker force-pushed these tags to serve malicious payloads, effectively turning trusted version references into a distribution mechanism for an infostealer. The malicious code executes within GitHub Actions runners, targeting sensitive data in CI/CD environments. It harvests secrets from runner process memory and the filesystem, encrypts the collected data, and exfiltrates it to an attacker-controlled endpoint or a fallback GitHub-based channel. The attack's scope is significant, potentially affecting over 10,000 workflow files on GitHub referencing this action.

Impact

The impact of this threat is substantial for organizations using the aquasecurity/trivy-action in their GitHub Actions workflows. By compromising trusted version tags, attackers can stealthily distribute malware that steals sensitive CI/CD secrets such as API keys, tokens, and credentials stored in environment variables or runner memory. This can lead to unauthorized access to cloud environments, code repositories, and other critical infrastructure. The exfiltrated credentials can facilitate further lateral movement, data breaches, or ransomware attacks. The widespread nature of the compromise means thousands of organizations globally could be affected, especially those relying heavily on GitHub Actions for automation and security scanning. The integrity of the CI/CD pipeline is undermined, potentially allowing attackers to inject malicious code into software builds or deployments. Additionally, the attack erodes trust in open-source actions and highlights the risk of supply chain attacks in modern DevOps practices.

Defensive guidance

Organizations should immediately audit their GitHub Actions workflows to identify usage of the aquasecurity/trivy-action and avoid referencing compromised version tags. Pin workflows to specific, verified commit SHAs rather than mutable tags to prevent automatic pulling of malicious code. Rotate all secrets and tokens used in CI/CD environments that might have been exposed. Implement strict least privilege access for CI/CD secrets and use GitHub's encrypted secrets management features. Monitor GitHub Actions logs for unusual activity or unexpected network connections, especially to suspicious domains like scan.aquasecurtiy.org. Employ runtime security tools to detect anomalous behavior in CI/CD runners. Consider using third-party supply chain security tools to verify the integrity of GitHub Actions and dependencies. Engage with the action's maintainers and community for updates or official patches. Finally, educate developers and DevOps teams about the risks of supply chain attacks and best practices for securing CI/CD pipelines.

Indicators of compromise

Domains 1

scan.aquasecurtiy.org

URLs 1

https://scan.aquasecurtiy.org

Hashes 2

57a97c7e7821a5776cebc9bb87c984fa69cba8f1
18a24f83e807479438dcab7a1804c51a00dafc1d526698a66e0640d1e5dd671a

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Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 20 Mar 2026, 21:23 UTC

MITRE ATT&CK techniques19 from threat tags

Technical details

Indicators of compromise

Domains 1

URLs 1

Hashes 2

Community reviews

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