Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XSummary
CVE-2026-31892 is a high-severity Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) vulnerability in Argoproj Argo Workflows. Its CVSS base score is 8.9 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 34th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-31892 is a critical authorization bypass vulnerability (CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization) in Argo Workflows, an open source container-native workflow engine for orchestrating parallel jobs on Kubernetes. It affects versions from 2.9.0 up to but excluding 4.0.2 and 3.7.11. The issue arises because a user submitting a Workflow can include a podSpecPatch field that completely overrides all security settings defined in a referenced WorkflowTemplate. This occurs even when the controller is configured with templateReferencing: Strict, intended to enforce use of admin-approved templates, as the podSpecPatch takes precedence during spec merging and is applied directly to the pod spec at creation time without any security validation.
A low-privileged user (PR:L) who can submit Workflows can exploit this vulnerability remotely (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction (UI:N), achieving high confidentiality (C:H) and integrity (I:H) impacts but no availability impact (A:N), for an overall CVSS v3.1 score of 8.1 (S:U). Attackers can thereby inject arbitrary pod specifications, evading cluster security controls enforced via templates.
The vulnerability is addressed in Argo Workflows releases 4.0.2 and 3.7.11. Additional details on the issue and mitigation are available in the upstream security advisory at https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/security/advisories/GHSA-3wf5-g532-rcrr.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-11206
Vulnerability Data
Argo Workflows is an open source container-native workflow engine for orchestrating parallel jobs on Kubernetes. From 2.9.0 to before 4.0.2 and 3.7.11, A user who can submit Workflows can completely bypass all security settings defined in a WorkflowTemplate by including…
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a podSpecPatch field in their Workflow submission. This works even when the controller is configured with templateReferencing: Strict, which is specifically documented as a mechanism to restrict users to admin-approved templates. The podSpecPatch field on a submitted Workflow takes precedence over the referenced WorkflowTemplate during spec merging and is applied directly to the pod spec at creation time with no security validation. This vulnerability is fixed in 4.0.2 and 3.7.11.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 6 hardening rules · 4 OS baselines
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
AC-3 directly requires correct enforcement of authorization decisions on every access request, structurally preventing incorrect checks.
AC-24 ensures access-control decisions are made and applied consistently, reducing the chance of an incorrect authorization result.
A reference monitor that is always invoked and tamper-proof forces every authorization decision through a verified, correct path.
Input validation can reject malformed or attacker-controlled values before they reach a security decision point.
Information-flow enforcement applies rules to validated, internal attributes instead of untrusted external values.
Least-privilege assignments shrink the set of authorizations that must be checked correctly, limiting exposure to flawed checks.
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.
Strong authentication mechanisms directly prevent security decisions from depending on modifiable, untrusted inputs.
Verification and protection of identity assertions stops reliance on attacker-controlled values for authorization decisions.
Defining, enforcing, and reviewing access authorizations and least privilege directly prevents incorrect authorization checks.
Proper management of identities/credentials reduces the chance that security decisions will be driven by untrusted inputs.
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.
Secure coding standards directly prohibit using untrusted inputs for security-critical decisions.
Security testing in development catches input-validation flaws before deployment.
Requiring consistency between access rights and classification plus formal approval steps ensures that the authorization logic correctly distinguishes between entities that should and should not be granted access.
Enforcing policy-driven approval and role-change reviews stops incorrect or stale authorization decisions from remaining in effect after job changes or terminations.
Monitoring can detect exploitation but does not stop the underlying weakness.
Application security requirements explicitly call for validation of inputs used in security decisions.
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