# CVE-2023-22381: Code injection in GitHub Enterprise Server leading to arbitrary environment variables in GitHub Actions

> Attacker with environment variable control can inject code in GitHub Actions on Windows runners, leading to arbitrary code execution.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Mar 2023
- **Updated:** 5 Mar 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c8m8-vx8j-3wr3

## What is CVE-2023-22381?

CVE-2023-22381 is a medium-severity code injection vulnerability in Github Enterprise Server, published on 2 Mar 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A code injection vulnerability was identified in GitHub Enterprise Server that allowed setting arbitrary environment variables from a single environment variable value in GitHub Actions when using a Windows based runner. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need existing permission to control the value of environment variables for use with GitHub Actions. This vulnerability affected all versions of GitHub Enterprise Server prior to 3.8.0 and was fixed in versions 3.4.15, 3.5.12, 3.6.8, 3.7.5. This vulnerability was reported via the GitHub Bug Bounty program.

Weakness: CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-22381?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Github Enterprise Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-22381?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-22381 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-22381 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-22381 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Github Enterprise Server

- [CVE-2024-4985](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4985/): Auth bypass in Enterprise Server (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2022-23739](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23739/): Missing authorization in GitHub Enterprise Server (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-46255](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-46255/): Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory in GitHub Enterprise Server leading to RCE (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-22869](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22869/): Improper access control in GitHub Enterprise Server allows self-hosted runners to execute outside their control group (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-9487](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9487/): Auth bypass in Enterprise Server (critical 9.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-22381 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-22381 is a medium-severity code injection vulnerability in Github Enterprise Server, published on 2 Mar 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-22381 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Github Enterprise Server. 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-2023-22381/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-22381/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-22381
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-22381
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-22381

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-22381/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.