CVE-2023-49291 Improper Sanitization of Branch Name Leads to Arbitrary Code Injection
Attackers can execute arbitrary code and steal secrets by crafting malicious branch names in GitHub Actions workflows using the tj-actions/branch-names action.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2023-49291?
CVE-2023-49291 is a critical code injection vulnerability in tj-actions branch-names, published on 4 Dec 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
tj-actions/branch-names is a Github action to retrieve branch or tag names with support for all events. The `tj-actions/branch-names` GitHub Actions improperly references the `github.event.pull_request.head.ref` and `github.head_ref` context variables within a GitHub Actions `run` step. The head ref variable is the branch name and can be used to execute arbitrary code using a specially crafted branch name. As a result an attacker can use this vulnerability to steal secrets from or abuse `GITHUB_TOKEN` permissions. This vulnerability has been addressed in version 7.0.7. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
Weakness: CWE-20
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-49291?
1 open source package ship an affected version, including tj-actions/branch-names. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
tj-actions/branch-names GitHub Actions | All versions | 7.0.7 |
Products include Tj-Actions Branch-Names.
How do I fix CVE-2023-49291?
Upgrade tj-actions/branch-names to 7.0.7 or later.
Upgrade, and never evaluate templates, expressions or code built from user input. More about Code injection.
Is CVE-2023-49291 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-49291 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-8v8w-v8xg-79rf.