CVE-2024-53862 Argo Workflows Allows Access to Archived Workflows with Fake Token in `client` mode
Attackers can retrieve archived workflows using fake tokens in client mode due to missing authorization checks, exposing sensitive workflow data.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2024-53862?
CVE-2024-53862 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in argoproj argo-workflows, published on 2 Dec 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Argo Workflows is an open source container-native workflow engine for orchestrating parallel jobs on Kubernetes. When using `--auth-mode=client`, Archived Workflows can be retrieved with a fake or spoofed token via the GET Workflow endpoint: `/api/v1/workflows/{namespace}/{name}` or when using `--auth-mode=sso`, all Archived Workflows can be retrieved with a valid token via the GET Workflow endpoint: `/api/v1/workflows/{namespace}/{name}`. No authentication is performed by the Server itself on `client` tokens. Authentication & authorization is instead delegated to the k8s API server. However, the Workflow Archive does not interact with k8s, and so any token that looks valid will be considered authenticated, even if it is not a k8s token or even if the token has no RBAC for Argo. To handle the lack of pass-through k8s authN/authZ, the Workflow Archive specifically does the equivalent of a `kubectl auth can-i` check for respective methods. In 3.5.7 and 3.5.8, the auth check was accidentally removed on the GET Workflow endpoint's fallback to archived workflows on these lines, allowing archived workflows to be retrieved with a fake token. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.6.2 and 3.5.13.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-53862?
8 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3, argo-workflows and github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3 Go | From 3.5.7 | 3.5.13, 3.6.2 |
github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3 Go | From 3.5.7 | 3.5.13 |
github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3 Go | From 3.5.7 | 3.5.13 |
github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3 Go | From 3.6.0 | 3.6.2 |
github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3 Go | From 3.6.0 | 3.6.2 |
argo-workflows Bitnami | From 3.5.7 | 3.6.2 |
2 more packages
github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows Go | All versions | None |
github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v2 Go | All versions | None |
Products include Argoproj Argo Workflows.
How do I fix CVE-2024-53862?
Upgrade github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3 to a fixed version for your release line: 3.5.13 or 3.6.2.
Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.
Is CVE-2024-53862 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2024-53862 exists.
Other vulnerabilities in argoproj argo-workflows
- CVE-2026-28229 Argo Workflows has unauthorized access to Argo Workflows Template
- CVE-2026-54526 Argo Workflows: Incomplete fix for CVE-2026-31892: ArtifactGC.PodSpecPatch bypass of Strict/Secure templateReferencing
- CVE-2026-31892 WorkflowTemplate Security Bypass via podSpecPatch in Strict/Secure Reference Mode
- CVE-2026-42295 Argo Workflows: Exposure of artifact repository credentials
- CVE-2026-42297 Argo Workflows Is Missing Authorization in Sync ConfigMap Provider
Sources
Also known as BIT-argo-workflows-2024-53862, GHSA-h36c-m3rf-34h9, GO-2024-3303, ROOT-APP-GOBINARY-CVE-2024-53862.