Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-50726

Access Control in Argoproj Argo Cd 1.2.0 – 2.8.12

Access Control
Published
13 March 2024
Modified
02 June 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0053 42th percentile
Risk Priority 47 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-50726 is a medium-severity Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269) vulnerability in Argoproj Argo Cd. Its CVSS base score is 6.4 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism (T1548); ranked at the 42th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-2 (Account Management) and AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access ControlA06:2025 Insecure Design

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Argo CD is a declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. "Local sync" is an Argo CD feature that allows developers to temporarily override an Application's manifests with locally-defined manifests. Use of the feature should generally be limited to highly-trusted…

more

users, since it allows the user to bypass any merge protections in git. An improper validation bug allows users who have `create` privileges but not `override` privileges to sync local manifests on app creation. All other restrictions, including AppProject restrictions are still enforced. The only restriction which is not enforced is that the manifests come from some approved git/Helm/OCI source. The bug was introduced in 1.2.0-rc1 when the local manifest sync feature was added. The bug has been patched in Argo CD versions 2.10.3, 2.9.8, and 2.8.12. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade may mitigate the risk of branch protection bypass by removing `applications, create` RBAC access. The only way to eliminate the issue without removing RBAC access is to upgrade to a patched version.

CWE(s)
CWE-269CWE-863

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1134 Access Token Manipulation Stealth
Adversaries may modify access tokens to operate under a different user or system security context to perform actions and bypass access controls.
attack.mitre.org →
T1548.001 Setuid and Setgid Privilege Escalation
An adversary may abuse configurations where an application has the setuid or setgid bits set in order to get code running in a different (and possibly more privileged) user’s context.
attack.mitre.org →
T1548.002 Bypass User Account Control Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may bypass UAC mechanisms to elevate process privileges on system.
attack.mitre.org →
T1548.003 Sudo and Sudo Caching Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may perform sudo caching and/or use the sudoers file to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-41666Same product: Argoproj Argo Cd
CVE-2024-31990Same product: Argoproj Argo Cd
CVE-2023-22482Same product: Argoproj Argo Cd
CVE-2023-23947Same product: Argoproj Argo Cd
CVE-2023-22736Same product: Argoproj Argo Cd
CVE-2024-21661Same product: Argoproj Argo Cd
CVE-2025-59531Same product: Argoproj Argo Cd
CVE-2025-59538Same product: Argoproj Argo Cd
CVE-2025-59537Same product: Argoproj Argo Cd
CVE-2024-37152Same product: Argoproj Argo Cd

Affected Assets

argoproj
argo cd
1.2.0 — 2.8.12 · 2.9.0 — 2.9.7 · 2.10.0 — 2.10.3

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 10 hardening rules · 8 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

AC-3 directly requires correct enforcement of authorization decisions on every access request, structurally preventing incorrect checks.

AC-2 Account Management good match

Account management directly governs assignment and tracking of privileges so proper implementation stops the weakness from being introduced.

AC-24 Access Control Decisions good match

Requiring explicit access-control decisions ensures privileges are evaluated rather than assumed or omitted.

AC-25 Reference Monitor good match

A reference monitor that is always invoked and tamper-proof forces every authorization decision through a verified, correct path.

AC-5 Separation of Duties good match

Separation of duties constrains how privileges may be assigned, reducing the chance of overly broad actor control.

AC-6 Least Privilege good match

Least privilege is the direct countermeasure to improper privilege management; implementing it eliminates the root cause.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

PR.AA-05 enforces least privilege/SoD and periodic reviews that directly remove most privilege-assignment defects, yet CWE-269 also covers escalation paths and role design outside a single access-management control.

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

PR.AA-01 supplies credential/identity lifecycle support that can reduce some privilege-assignment errors but does not itself assign, modify, or check privileges, leaving most of CWE-269's risk unaddressed.

PR.PS-01 partial match
prevents

Config baselines and default reviews can enforce some privilege-related settings (one facet) but do not address code-level assignment/tracking logic that defines CWE-269.

PR.PS-05 partial match
prevents

PR.PS-05 can partially limit exploitability of some privilege issues via execution restrictions, but does not address the core design/implementation flaws of CWE-269 at all.

PR.DS-10 none match
prevents

PR.DS-10 protects data-in-use without touching privilege assignment/tracking, so it neither prevents CWE-269 nor removes more than one narrow facet of its risk.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.18 Access rights mostly match
prevents

Requiring owner approval, segregation of duties, and periodic reviews prevents the assignment of excessive or unnecessary privileges to users or processes.

A.8.2 Privileged access rights mostly match
prevents

Enforcing minimum-necessary privileges, temporary grants, and separation of administrative versus normal identities prevents the over-assignment of rights that CWE-269 describes.

A.8.3 Information access restriction mostly match
prevents

Dynamic techniques that grant the minimum necessary rights for a given time window and revoke them afterward reduce the window in which excessive or unnecessary privileges can be exploited.

A.5.15 Access control partial match
prevents

Explicit restrictions on privileged access and segregation of duties limit the scope of privileges that can be assigned, reducing the chance that excessive or unnecessary privileges are granted to entities.

A.5.2 Information security roles and responsibilities partial match
prevents

Defining and communicating authorization levels for each role limits the assignment of excessive or unnecessary privileges.

A.5.3 Segregation of duties partial match
mitigates

Separating duties such as developing software from administering production systems prevents any one person from accumulating excessive privileges that would constitute improper privilege management.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
  • V-248581 OL 8 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
  • V-252656 The OL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
  • V-204430 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must re-authenticate for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-251712 The RHEL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
Windows 10 (1 rule)
  • V-220712 Only accounts responsible for the administration of a system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269
Windows 11 (1 rule)
  • V-253269 Only accounts responsible for the administration of a system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269
Windows Server 2016 (1 rule)
  • V-225007 Only administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269
Windows Server 2019 (1 rule)
  • V-205746 Windows Server 2019 must only allow Administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system to have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269
Windows Server 2022 (1 rule)
  • V-254428 Windows Server 2022 must only allow administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system to have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269

References