# CVE-2022-24768: Improper access control allows admin privilege escalation in Argo CD

> A malicious user with specific repository or sync permissions can escalate privileges to admin level in Argo CD, requiring an upgrade to patched versions.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Mar 2022
- **Updated:** 23 Apr 2025

## What is CVE-2022-24768?

CVE-2022-24768 is a critical vulnerability in Argoproj Argo Cd, published on 23 Mar 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Argo CD is a declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. All unpatched versions of Argo CD starting with 1.0.0 are vulnerable to an improper access control bug, allowing a malicious user to potentially escalate their privileges to admin-level. Versions starting with 0.8.0 and 0.5.0 contain limited versions of this issue. To perform exploits, an authorized Argo CD user must have push access to an Application's source git or Helm repository or `sync` and `override` access to an Application. Once a user has that access, different exploitation levels are possible depending on their other RBAC privileges. A patch for this vulnerability has been released in Argo CD versions 2.3.2, 2.2.8, and 2.1.14. Some mitigation measures are available but do not serve as a substitute for upgrading. To avoid privilege escalation, limit who has push access to Application source repositories or `sync` + `override` access to Applications; and limit which repositories are available in projects where users have `update` access to Applications. To avoid unauthorized resource inspection/tampering, limit who has `delete`, `get`, or `action` access to Applications.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization), CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-24768?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Argoproj Argo Cd.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-24768?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2022-24768 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-24768 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Argoproj Argo Cd

- [CVE-2025-55190](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-55190/): Argo CD: Project API Token Exposes Repository Credentials (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2022-29165](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-29165/): Argo CD will blindly trust JWT claims if anonymous access is enabled (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2023-40029](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40029/): Cluster secret might leak in cluster details page in Argo CD (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2024-21652](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-21652/): Argo CD vulnerable to Bypassing of Brute Force Protection via Application Crash and In-Memory Data Loss (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-42880](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-42880/): ArgoCD ServerSideDiff is vulnerable to Kubernetes Secret Extraction (critical 9.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-24768 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-24768 is a critical vulnerability in Argoproj Argo Cd, published on 23 Mar 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-24768 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Argoproj Argo Cd. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-24768/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-24768/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-24768
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-24768
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-24768

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-24768/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.