# 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.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Mar 2024
- **Updated:** 1 Aug 2024

## 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 (Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-21662?

It affects 1 product.


Products: 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](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-2022-24768](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-24768/): Improper access control allows admin privilege escalation 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)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-21662 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2024-21662 exists.

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-2024-21662/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-21662/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-21662
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-21662
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-21662

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-21662/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.