CVE-2024-52814 in argo-helm
Summary
by MITRE • 11/22/2024
Argo Helm is a collection of community maintained charts for `argoproj.github.io` projects. Prior to version 0.45.0, the `workflow-role`) lacks granularity in its privileges, giving permissions to `workflowtasksets` and `workflowartifactgctasks` to all workflow Pods, when only certain types of Pods created by the Controller require these privileges. The impact is minimal, as an attack could only affect status reporting for certain types of Pods and templates. Version 0.45.0 fixes the issue.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/23/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-52814 affects Argo Helm charts, specifically the workflow-role configuration within the argoproj.github.io projects ecosystem. This issue resides in the privilege escalation mechanisms that govern how workflow tasks are executed and managed within Kubernetes environments. The affected component represents a critical security gap in the access control model, where the workflow-role has been granted overly broad permissions that extend beyond what is necessary for its intended function. This misconfiguration creates a potential attack vector that could be exploited by malicious actors seeking to manipulate workflow execution status or gain unauthorized access to workflow-related resources.
The technical flaw manifests in the insufficient privilege granularity of the workflow-role definition, which incorrectly grants permissions to workflowtasksets and workflowartifactgctasks to all workflow Pods rather than restricting access to only those Pods that require these specific capabilities. This excessive permission model violates the principle of least privilege, a fundamental security concept that mandates users and processes should only have access to resources necessary for their specific functions. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-250 as "Privilege Abuse" and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.101 for Valid Accounts and T1566.001 for Phishing, as attackers could potentially leverage this misconfiguration to manipulate workflow execution status or gain unauthorized access to workflow artifacts and task management functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability, while described as minimal, represents a significant security risk within containerized workflow environments. An attacker who successfully exploits this privilege escalation could potentially manipulate status reporting for specific types of Pods and templates, affecting the integrity of workflow execution monitoring and auditing capabilities. This could lead to situations where workflow status information becomes unreliable, potentially masking actual execution failures or unauthorized modifications. The vulnerability affects the overall security posture of Argo workflows by creating opportunities for privilege abuse and unauthorized access to workflow management functions, particularly impacting the reliability of workflow artifact management and task execution status tracking.
The fix implemented in version 0.45.0 addresses this issue by introducing proper privilege granularity to the workflow-role configuration, ensuring that workflowtasksets and workflowartifactgctasks only receive permissions necessary for the specific types of Pods they need to manage rather than granting blanket access to all workflow Pods. This remediation aligns with security best practices for Kubernetes role-based access control and helps maintain the integrity of workflow execution environments. Organizations should immediately update their Argo Helm installations to version 0.45.0 or later to mitigate this vulnerability. The mitigation strategy should also include regular security audits of role definitions and permission models within Kubernetes environments, particularly focusing on workflow management systems and their associated access controls to prevent similar privilege escalation issues from occurring in other components of the infrastructure stack.