Argo CD: Stored XSS in application link annotations enables developer-to-admin privilege escalation
Priority HIGH 73CWE-79Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Cross-site scripting
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-79.
Summary
Argo CD is a declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. Prior to 3.2.12, 3.3.10, and 3.4.2, Argo CD users with application write access can set link.argocd.argoproj.io/* annotations whose pipe-separated values are rendered by ui/src/app/applications/components/application-summary/application-summary.tsx in the Summary tab URLs section as anchor href values without URL validation, allowing javascript: execution in a higher-privileged user's authenticated Argo CD origin session. This issue is fixed in versions 3.2.12, 3.3.10, and 3.4.2.
Why it matters now
Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00606 49th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Fixed argo-cd (argoproj): 3.2.12, 3.3.10, 3.4.2github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3 (Go): 3.2.12, 3.3.10, 3.4.2
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| argoproj | argo-cd | before 3.2.12; 3.3.0 to before 3.3.10; 3.4.0-rc1 to before 3.4.2 | 3.2.12, 3.3.10, 3.4.2 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3 (Go) | before 3.2.12 | 3.2.12 | Patch available | GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38 |
| — | github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3 (Go) | 3.3.0-rc1 to before 3.3.10 | 3.3.10 | Patch available | GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38 |
| — | github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3 (Go) | 3.4.0-rc1 to before 3.4.2 | 3.4.2 | Patch available | GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38 |
| — | github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 (Go) | up to 2.14.21 | — | No fix listed | GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38 |
| — | github.com/argoproj/argo-cd (Go) | up to 1.8.7 | — | No fix listed | GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38 |
- argo-cd Vendorargoproj Affected before 3.2.12; 3.3.0 to before 3.3.10; 3.4.0-rc1 to before 3.4.2 Fixed in 3.2.12, 3.3.10, 3.4.2 Patch available CNA
- github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3 (Go) Vendor— Affected before 3.2.12 Fixed in 3.2.12 Patch available GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38
- github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3 (Go) Vendor— Affected 3.3.0-rc1 to before 3.3.10 Fixed in 3.3.10 Patch available GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38
- github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3 (Go) Vendor— Affected 3.4.0-rc1 to before 3.4.2 Fixed in 3.4.2 Patch available GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38
- github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2 (Go) Vendor— Affected up to 2.14.21 Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38
- github.com/argoproj/argo-cd (Go) Vendor— Affected up to 1.8.7 Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:argoproj:argo_cd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 3.2.12; 3.3.0 to before 3.3.10; 3.4.0 to before 3.4.2 | Vulnerable | argoproj |
- cpe:2.3:a:argoproj:argo_cd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 3.2.12; 3.3.0 to before 3.3.10; 3.4.0 to before 3.4.2 Vulnerable ·argoproj
Remediation
- Fix · CNA argo-cd (argoproj) Fixed in 3.2.12, 3.3.10, 3.4.2
- Fix · GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38 github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3 (Go) Fixed in 3.2.12 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38 github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3 (Go) Fixed in 3.3.10 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38 github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3 (Go) Fixed in 3.4.2 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-45738
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38
References
Patch 3
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-2025-37068 Argo CD is Vulnerable to Unauthenticated Remote DoS via malformed Azure DevOps git.push webhook CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-45738 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-45738 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-h98r-wv3h-fr38 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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