Summary
OpenChoreo: Authenticated OS command injection via OpenChoreo Workflow Plane templates enables code execution in privileged pods
OpenChoreo Workflow Plane templates were vulnerable to OS command injection because some developer-controlled workflow parameters were interpolated directly into shell program text executed through sh -c.
An authenticated user with permission to configure and trigger an affected workflow could supply crafted parameter values containing shell metacharacters. Because Argo substituted these values directly into the shell script before execution, the values could alter the script and execute arbitrary commands inside the workflow pod.
In affected configurations, some build and publish templates used privileged Podman containers without Kubernetes pod user-namespace isolation. Consequently, injected commands could run as UID 0 inside a privileged container, with UID 0 mapped into the host user namespace. This substantially increased the potential impact of the command-injection vulnerability.
The remediation ensures that workflow parameters are treated as data rather than executable shell syntax. Affected values are now passed through container.env and consumed as quoted shell variables. JSON-derived build environment variables and build arguments are passed as separate argument-vector entries instead of being reconstructed as whitespace-delimited shell strings.
Workarounds
If you cannot upgrade immediately:
- Restrict permission to create, modify, or trigger workflows to trusted users only.
- Do not allow untrusted users to control parameters used by checkout, build, publish, or workload-generation templates.
Impact
An authenticated user with permission to trigger an affected workflow could execute arbitrary commands inside the corresponding workflow pod.
Depending on the affected template and its configuration, an attacker could potentially:
- Read source code checked out by the workflow.
- Read Git credentials, registry credentials, or other secrets mounted into the pod.
- Read the pod's Kubernetes service account token.
- Access mounted volumes and other build-time data.
- etc
Some affected build and publish templates ran Podman using:
securityContext:
privileged: true
and did not previously enable pod user namespaces.
Without hostUsers: false, UID 0 inside the container is UID 0 in the host user namespace. In combination with privileged mode, this grants the container broad Linux capabilities and removes several normal container isolation restrictions.
This does not mean that every successful command injection automatically results in a container escape or complete node compromise. However, it materially increases the risk. Depending on the container runtime, available devices, mounted paths, kernel configuration, and node environment, an attacker may be able to access host resources or escalate the compromise to the underlying node.
For example, access to a host block device such as /dev/vda1 is only possible when that device is exposed or otherwise visible inside the container. The presence and naming of such devices are environment-specific and should not be assumed across all deployments.
Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host. Typical impact: code execution in the application's environment.
CVE-2026-73667 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (High). 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 (1.0.4, 1.1.4, 1.2.0-rc.2); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
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. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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The fixes have been applied to the 1.0.4, 1.1.4, and 1.2.0-rc.2 releases. The fix prevents OS command injection by removing direct interpolation of developer-controlled Argo parameters into shell scripts executed through sh -c. Affected values are now passed through container environment variables and consumed as quoted shell variables, while JSON-derived build arguments and environment variables are passed as separate argument entries instead of being reconstructed as shell command strings. The patched workflow templates also enable pod user namespaces for containers that still require privileged Podman by setting hostUsers: false. This maps UID 0 inside the pod to a non-root UID on the host when user namespaces are supported by the cluster. Privileged execution has also been removed from workflow templates where it is no longer required.
Users of the sample workflow templates should apply the corrected templates from the corresponding release branch: https://github.com/openchoreo/openchoreo/tree/release-v1.x/samples/getting-started/workflow-templates. Replace release-v1.x with the relevant release branch, such as release-v1.0, release-v1.1, or release-v1.2, and apply the applicable workflow templates to the cluster.
Users with custom workflow templates should also review and update those templates, as upgrading OpenChoreo does not automatically correct independently maintained custom templates containing unsafe shell interpolation.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-73667? CVE-2026-73667 is a high-severity OS command injection vulnerability in github.com/openchoreo/openchoreo (go), affecting versions < 1.0.4. It is fixed in 1.0.4, 1.1.4, 1.2.0-rc.2. Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host.
- How severe is CVE-2026-73667? CVE-2026-73667 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (High). 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.
- Which versions of github.com/openchoreo/openchoreo are affected by CVE-2026-73667? github.com/openchoreo/openchoreo (go) versions < 1.0.4 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-73667? Yes. CVE-2026-73667 is fixed in 1.0.4, 1.1.4, 1.2.0-rc.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-73667 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-73667 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
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-73667 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.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-73667?
- Upgrade
github.com/openchoreo/openchoreoto 1.0.4 or later - Upgrade
github.com/openchoreo/openchoreoto 1.1.4 or later - Upgrade
github.com/openchoreo/openchoreoto 1.2.0-rc.2 or later
- Upgrade