Harden-Runner Evasion of 'disable-sudo' policy
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Privilege escalation
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-269.
Summary
Harden-Runner is a CI/CD security agent that works like an EDR for GitHub Actions runners. Versions from 0.12.0 to before 2.12.0 are vulnerable to `disable-sudo` bypass. Harden-Runner includes a policy option `disable-sudo` to prevent the GitHub Actions runner user from using sudo. This is implemented by removing the runner user from the sudoers file. However, this control can be bypassed as the runner user, being part of the docker group, can interact with the Docker daemon to launch privileged containers or access the host filesystem. This allows the attacker to regain root access or restore the sudoers file, effectively bypassing the restriction. This issue has been patched in version 2.12.0.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| step-security | harden-runner | 0.12.0 to before 2.12.0 | 2.12.0 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | step-security/harden-runner (GitHub Actions) | 0.12.0 to before 2.12.0 | 2.12.0 | Patch available | GHSA-mxr3-8whj-j74r |
- harden-runner Vendorstep-security Affected 0.12.0 to before 2.12.0 Fixed in 2.12.0 Patch available CNA
- step-security/harden-runner (GitHub Actions) Vendor— Affected 0.12.0 to before 2.12.0 Fixed in 2.12.0 Patch available GHSA-mxr3-8whj-j74r
CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1
Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:stepsecurity:harden-runner:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | — | — | step-security |
- cpe:2.3:a:stepsecurity:harden-runner:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·step-security
Remediation
- Fix · CNA harden-runner (step-security) Fixed in 2.12.0
- Fix · GHSA-mxr3-8whj-j74r step-security/harden-runner (GitHub Actions) Fixed in 2.12.0 Advisory →
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-32955
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-mxr3-8whj-j74r
References
Other 4
More step-security vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-20705 Bypassing Logging of Outbound Connections Using sendto, sendmsg, and sendmmsg in Harden-Runner (Community Tier) CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.3
- TI-2026-25395 Egress Policy Bypass via DNS over HTTPS (DoH) in Harden-Runner (Community Tier) CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 4.6
- TI-2026-25394 Egress Policy Bypass via DNS over TCP in Harden-Runner (Community Tier) CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 4.6
- TI-2024-35247 Harden-Runner has command injection weaknesses in `setup.ts` and `arc-runner.ts` CVSS 4.0LOW 2.7
Sources
- CVE-2025-32955 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-32955 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-mxr3-8whj-j74r · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-32955 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences