CVE-2023-40029
Published: 07 September 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-40029 is a critical-severity Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (CWE-200) vulnerability in Argoproj Argo Cd. Its CVSS base score is 9.9 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 23.6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-2497
Vulnerability details
Argo CD is a declarative continuous deployment for Kubernetes. Argo CD Cluster secrets might be managed declaratively using Argo CD / kubectl apply. As a result, the full secret body is stored in`kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration` annotation. pull request #7139 introduced the ability…
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to manage cluster labels and annotations. Since clusters are stored as secrets it also exposes the `kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration` annotation which includes full secret body. In order to view the cluster annotations via the Argo CD API, the user must have `clusters, get` RBAC access. **Note:** In many cases, cluster secrets do not contain any actually-secret information. But sometimes, as in bearer-token auth, the contents might be very sensitive. The bug has been patched in versions 2.8.3, 2.7.14, and 2.6.15. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade should update/deploy cluster secret with `server-side-apply` flag which does not use or rely on `kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration` annotation. Note: annotation for existing secrets will require manual removal.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Monitoring directly detects unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, enabling response to exposures.
Coordinating audit logging across organizational boundaries reduces the risk of sensitive audit data being exposed to unauthorized actors during transmission.
A data action map identifies locations where sensitive information may be exposed to unauthorized actors during processing or transfer.
The control's identification, isolation, alerting, and eradication steps directly limit the impact and exploitation window of unauthorized sensitive information exposure.
Requiring organization-defined processing conditions on specific PII categories directly reduces the chance that personal data will be exposed to unauthorized actors.
The assessment process surfaces design decisions that could expose sensitive (including PII) data to unauthorized actors, prompting controls that reduce such exposure.
Directly prevents exposure of critical organizational information by applying OPSEC processes across the SDLC.
Filtering output to only permitted content stops unintended disclosure of sensitive information to unauthorized actors.