Source controller: Improper path handling allows traversal
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · Low · Low
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.
Summary
The source-controller is a Kubernetes operator, specialised in artifacts acquisition from external sources such as Git, OCI, Helm repositories and S3-compatible buckets. In versions 0.0.17 through 1.8.4, an actor with the ability to influence the contents of a bucket referenced by a `Bucket` resource can cause source-controller to write fetched object data to paths outside the per-reconciliation working directory. The corruption surface is bounded by source-controller's own and downstream Flux controllers' digest verification: source-controller verifies stored artifact digests during reconciliation and rebuilds on divergence; consumers (kustomize-controller, helm-controller) verify the digest of fetched artifacts and reject mismatches. These checks prevent a manipulated artifact from reaching the cluster, but an attacker can still write files anywhere the source-controller pod has permission to write. Separately, a user with permission to create or update `GitRepository` resources can cause source-controller to test for the existence of paths outside the cloned repository. Because the result is exposed via the resource's status, this allows limited enumeration of file paths on the controller pod. This surface exists only on source-controller v1.6.0 and later, where the sparse-checkout feature was introduced. This vulnerability was fixed in source-controller v1.8.5. There is no in-product workaround. Users should upgrade to a patched version. As a defense-in-depth measure for the GitRepository sparse-checkout surface, a `ValidatingAdmissionPolicy` (or a third-party policy engine such as Kyverno or OPA Gatekeeper) can be deployed to reject `GitRepository` resources whose `.spec.sparseCheckout` entries contain `..` or absolute path segments.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fluxcd | source-controller | 0.0.17 to before 1.8.5 | 1.8.5 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/fluxcd/source-controller (Go) | 0.0.17 to before 1.8.5 | 1.8.5 | Patch available | GHSA-jjrm-hr5f-673x |
- source-controller Vendorfluxcd Affected 0.0.17 to before 1.8.5 Fixed in 1.8.5 Patch available CNA
- github.com/fluxcd/source-controller (Go) Vendor— Affected 0.0.17 to before 1.8.5 Fixed in 1.8.5 Patch available GHSA-jjrm-hr5f-673x
Remediation
- Fix · CNA source-controller (fluxcd) Fixed in 1.8.5
- Fix · GHSA-jjrm-hr5f-673x github.com/fluxcd/source-controller (Go) Fixed in 1.8.5 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-47680
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-jjrm-hr5f-673x
References
More fluxcd vulnerabilities
- TI-2022-08687 Improper path handling in kustomization files allows path traversal CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.9
- TI-2022-08630 Improper kubeconfig validation allows arbitrary code execution CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.9
- TI-2021-18089 Privilege escalation to cluster admin on multi-tenant environments CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-16473 Flux2 Helm Controller denial of service CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.7
- TI-2022-16460 Flux CLI Workload Injection CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
- TI-2022-08688 Improper path handling in Kustomization files allows for denial of service CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.7
Sources
- CVE-2026-47680 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-47680 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-jjrm-hr5f-673x · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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