CVE-2024-22424

HIGH
Published Jan 19, 2024 Modified Nov 21, 2024 CWE-352

Description

Argo CD is a declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. The Argo CD API prior to versions 2.10-rc2, 2.9.4, 2.8.8, and 2.7.15 are vulnerable to a cross-server request forgery (CSRF) attack when the attacker has the ability to write HTML to a page on the same parent domain as Argo CD. A CSRF attack works by tricking an authenticated Argo CD user into loading a web page which contains code to call Argo CD API endpoints on the victim’s behalf. For example, an attacker could send an Argo CD user a link to a page which looks harmless but in the background calls an Argo CD API endpoint to create an application running malicious code. Argo CD uses the “Lax” SameSite cookie policy to prevent CSRF attacks where the attacker controls an external domain. The malicious external website can attempt to call the Argo CD API, but the web browser will refuse to send the Argo CD auth token with the request. Many companies host Argo CD on an internal subdomain. If an attacker can place malicious code on, for example, https://test.internal.example.com/, they can still perform a CSRF attack. In this case, the “Lax” SameSite cookie does not prevent the browser from sending the auth cookie, because the destination is a parent domain of the Argo CD API. Browsers generally block such attacks by applying CORS policies to sensitive requests with sensitive content types. Specifically, browsers will send a “preflight request” for POSTs with content type “application/json” asking the destination API “are you allowed to accept requests from my domain?” If the destination API does not answer “yes,” the browser will block the request. Before the patched versions, Argo CD did not validate that requests contained the correct content type header. So an attacker could bypass the browser’s CORS check by setting the content type to something which is considered “not sensitive” such as “text/plain.” The browser wouldn’t send the preflight request, and Argo CD would happily accept the contents (which are actually still JSON) and perform the requested action (such as running malicious code). A patch for this vulnerability has been released in the following Argo CD versions: 2.10-rc2, 2.9.4, 2.8.8, and 2.7.15. The patch contains a breaking API change. The Argo CD API will no longer accept non-GET requests which do not specify application/json as their Content-Type. The accepted content types list is configurable, and it is possible (but discouraged) to disable the content type check completely. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

8.3
HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-352 Cross-Site Request Forgery

Affected Products

Vendor Product
argoproj argo_cd
argoproj argo_cd
argoproj argo_cd
linuxfoundation argo-cd

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-22424? +
Argo CD is a declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. The Argo CD API prior to versions 2.10-rc2, 2.9.4, 2.8.8, and 2.7.15 are vulnerable to a cross-server request forgery (CSRF) attack when the attacker has the ability to write HTML to a page on the same parent domain as Argo CD. A CSRF attack works by tricking an authenticated Argo CD user into loading a web page which contains code to call Argo CD API endpoints on the victim’s behalf. For example, an attacker could send an Argo CD user a link to a page which looks harmless but in the background calls an Argo CD API endpoint to create an application running malicious code. Argo CD uses the “Lax” SameSite cookie policy to prevent CSRF attacks where the attacker controls an external domain. The malicious external website can attempt to call the Argo CD API, but the web browser will refuse to send the Argo CD auth token with the request. Many companies host Argo CD on an internal subdomain. If an attacker can place malicious code on, for example, https://test.internal.example.com/, they can still perform a CSRF attack. In this case, the “Lax” SameSite cookie does not prevent the browser from sending the auth cookie, because the destination is a parent domain of the Argo CD API. Browsers generally block such attacks by applying CORS policies to sensitive requests with sensitive content types. Specifically, browsers will send a “preflight request” for POSTs with content type “application/json” asking the destination API “are you allowed to accept requests from my domain?” If the destination API does not answer “yes,” the browser will block the request. Before the patched versions, Argo CD did not validate that requests contained the correct content type header. So an attacker could bypass the browser’s CORS check by setting the content type to something which is considered “not sensitive” such as “text/plain.” The browser wouldn’t send the preflight request, and Argo CD would happily accept the contents (which are actually still JSON) and perform the requested action (such as running malicious code). A patch for this vulnerability has been released in the following Argo CD versions: 2.10-rc2, 2.9.4, 2.8.8, and 2.7.15. The patch contains a breaking API change. The Argo CD API will no longer accept non-GET requests which do not specify application/json as their Content-Type. The accepted content types list is configurable, and it is possible (but discouraged) to disable the content type check completely. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.3 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2024-22424? +
CVE-2024-22424 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.3 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching.
What products are affected by CVE-2024-22424? +
CVE-2024-22424 affects products from argoproj, linuxfoundation, specifically: argo-cd, argo_cd. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2024-22424? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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