As of v1.5.0, the default admin password is set to the argocd-server pod name.
Priority MEDIUM 42CWE-1188Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-287.
Summary
As of v1.5.0, the default admin password is set to the argocd-server pod name. For insiders with access to the cluster or logs, this issue could be abused for privilege escalation, as Argo has privileged roles. A malicious insider is the most realistic threat, but pod names are not meant to be kept secret and could wind up just about anywhere.
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.018 78th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | all versions | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| — | github.com/argoproj/argo-cd (Go) | up to 1.8.0 | — | No fix listed | GHSA-h8jc-jmrf-9h8f |
- — Vendor— Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- github.com/argoproj/argo-cd (Go) Vendor— Affected up to 1.8.0 Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-h8jc-jmrf-9h8f
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2020-8828
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-h8jc-jmrf-9h8f
References
Advisory 3
Other 4
- https://argo-cd.readthedocs.io/en/stable/security_considerations/#cve-2020-8828-insecure-default-administrative-password
- https://argoproj.github.io/argo-cd/security_considerations
- https://github.com/argoproj/argo-cd
- https://github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/blob/129cf5370f9e2c6f99c9a5515099250a7ba42099/docs/security_considerations.md#cve-2020-8828---insecure-default-administrative-password
More argoproj Argo Cd vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-14377 Argo CD vulnerable to Bypassing of Brute Force Protection via Application Crash and In-Memory Data Loss CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2024-14383 Argo CD vulnerable to Bypassing of Rate Limit and Brute Force Protection Using Cache Overflow CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2026-31086 ArgoCD ServerSideDiff is vulnerable to Kubernetes Secret Extraction CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.6
- TI-2023-20919 Cluster secret might leak in cluster details page in Argo CD CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.9
- TI-2024-21088 ArgoCD Vulnerable to Use of Risky or Missing Cryptographic Algorithms in Redis Cache CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2026-33475 Argo CD: Stored XSS in application link annotations enables developer-to-admin privilege escalation CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.7
Sources
- CVE-2020-8828 · CVE Program
- CVE-2020-8828 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-h8jc-jmrf-9h8f · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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