CVE-2023-22482

JWT audience claim is not verified

All versions of Argo CD starting with v1.8.2 are vulnerable to an improper authorization bug causing the API to accept certain invalid tokens.

OIDC providers include an aud (audience) claim in signed tokens. The value of that claim specifies the intended audience(s) of the token (i.e. the service or services which are meant to accept the token). Argo CD does validate that the token was signed by Argo CD's configured OIDC provider. But Argo CD does not validate the audience claim, so it will accept tokens that are not intended for Argo CD.

If Argo CD's configured OIDC provider also serves other audiences (for example, a file storage service), then Argo CD will accept a token intended for one of those other audiences. Argo CD will grant the user privileges based on the token's groups claim, even though those groups were not intended to be used by Argo CD.

This bug also increases the blast radius of a stolen token. If an attacker steals a valid token for a different audience, they can use it to access Argo CD.

The application does not correctly enforce access controls, allowing a principal to access resources or operations beyond their granted permissions. Typical impact: unauthorized data access or execution of privileged operations.

CVE-2023-22482 has a CVSS score of 9.0 (Critical). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (2.3.14, 2.4.20, 2.5.8, 2.6.0-rc5); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

A patch for this vulnerability has been released in the following Argo CD versions:

• v2.6.0-rc5
• v2.5.8
• v2.4.20
• v2.3.14

The patch introduces a new allowedAudiences to the OIDC config block. By default, the client ID is the only allowed audience. Users who want Argo CD to accept tokens intended for a different audience may use allowedAudiences to specify those audiences.

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: argocd-cm
data:
  oidc.config: |
    name: Example
    allowedAudiences:
    - audience-1
    - audience-2
    - argocd-client-id  # If `allowedAudiences` is non-empty, Argo CD's client ID must be explicitly added if you want to allow it.
``

Even though [the OIDC spec requires the audience claim](https://openid.net/specs/openid-connect-core-1_0.html#IDToken), some tokens may not include it. To avoid a breaking change in a patch release, versions < 2.6.0 of Argo CD will skip the audience claim check for tokens that have no audience. In versions >= 2.6.0, Argo CD will reject all tokens which do not have an audience claim. Users can opt into the old behavior by setting an option:

```yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: argocd-cm
data:
  oidc.config: |
    name: Example
    skipAudienceCheckWhenTokenHasNoAudience: true

Workarounds

There is no workaround besides upgrading.

Credits

The Argo CD team would like to express their gratitude to Vladimir Pouzanov (@farcaller) from Indeed, who discovered the issue, reported it confidentially according to our guidelines, and actively worked with the project to provide a remedy. Many thanks to Vladimir!

References

• How to configure OIDC in Argo CD
• OIDC spec section discussing the audience claim
• JWT spec section discussing the audience claim

For more information

• Open an issue in the Argo CD issue tracker or discussions
• Join us on Slack in channel #argo-cd

1. What is CVE-2023-22482? CVE-2023-22482 is a critical-severity incorrect authorization vulnerability in github.com/argoproj/argo-cd (go), affecting versions >= 1.8.2, < 2.3.14. It is fixed in 2.3.14, 2.4.20, 2.5.8, 2.6.0-rc5. The application does not correctly enforce access controls, allowing a principal to access resources or operations beyond their granted permissions.
2. How severe is CVE-2023-22482? CVE-2023-22482 has a CVSS score of 9.0 (Critical). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of github.com/argoproj/argo-cd are affected by CVE-2023-22482? github.com/argoproj/argo-cd (go) versions >= 1.8.2, < 2.3.14 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2023-22482? Yes. CVE-2023-22482 is fixed in 2.3.14, 2.4.20, 2.5.8, 2.6.0-rc5. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2023-22482 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-22482 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2023-22482 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2023-22482?
   • Upgrade github.com/argoproj/argo-cd to 2.3.14 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/argoproj/argo-cd to 2.4.20 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/argoproj/argo-cd to 2.5.8 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/argoproj/argo-cd to 2.6.0-rc5 or later