CVE-2024-21662 Argo CD vulnerable to Bypassing of Rate Limit and Brute Force Protection Using Cache Overflow
Attackers can bypass rate limiting and brute force protections by overflowing the login attempt cache, enabling accelerated brute force attacks against the admin account.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2024-21662?
CVE-2024-21662 is a high-severity vulnerability in Argoproj Argo Cd, published on 18 Mar 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Argo CD is a declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. Prior to versions 2.8.13, 2.9.9, and 2.10.4, an attacker can effectively bypass the rate limit and brute force protections by exploiting the application's weak cache-based mechanism. This loophole in security can be combined with other vulnerabilities to attack the default admin account. This flaw undermines a patch for CVE-2020-8827 intended to protect against brute-force attacks. The application's brute force protection relies on a cache mechanism that tracks login attempts for each user. This cache is limited to a `defaultMaxCacheSize` of 1000 entries. An attacker can overflow this cache by bombarding it with login attempts for different users, thereby pushing out the admin account's failed attempts and effectively resetting the rate limit for that account. This is a severe vulnerability that enables attackers to perform brute force attacks at an accelerated rate, especially targeting the default admin account. Users should upgrade to version 2.8.13, 2.9.9, or 2.10.4 to receive a patch.
Weakness: CWE-307
Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-21662?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Argoproj Argo Cd.
How do I fix CVE-2024-21662?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Is CVE-2024-21662 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2024-21662 exists.
Other vulnerabilities in Argoproj Argo Cd
- CVE-2025-55190 Argo CD: Project API Token Exposes Repository Credentials
- CVE-2022-29165 Argo CD will blindly trust JWT claims if anonymous access is enabled
- CVE-2023-40029 Cluster secret might leak in cluster details page in Argo CD
- CVE-2022-24768 Improper access control allows admin privilege escalation in Argo CD
- CVE-2024-21652 Argo CD vulnerable to Bypassing of Brute Force Protection via Application Crash and In-Memory Data Loss