WorkflowTemplate Security Bypass via podSpecPatch in Strict/Secure Reference Mode
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 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.
BIT-argo-workflows-2026-31892
Primary source · Revision 1
Imported from structured advisory data. Source references identify upstream records or fields; verify affected versions and your deployed configuration.
Security context
Source reference: osv:BIT-argo-workflows-2026-31892
argo-workflows
Source reference: /affected/0/package/name
- Affected versions
- Not stated in this record
- Fixed versions
- 3.7.11
Source reference:
/affected/0/ranges4.0.2Source reference:
/affected/0/ranges - Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
Structured affected-version data
Original package identities and version rules from this source.
[
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "SEMVER",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.7.11"
},
{
"introduced": "4.0.0"
},
{
"fixed": "4.0.2"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "argo-workflows",
"purl": "pkg:bitnami/argo-workflows",
"ecosystem": "Bitnami"
},
"severity": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V3",
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H"
}
],
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://github.com/bitnami/vulndb/tree/main/data/argo-workflows/BIT-argo-workflows-2026-31892.json"
}
}
]- Related CVEs
- CVE-2026-31892
Source reference:
/aliases
Publisher severity
critical
Source reference: /database_specific/severity
- Event
- #25937 · Revision 1
- Added to Heist Feed
- Publisher date