ArgoCD ServerSideDiff is vulnerable to Kubernetes Secret Extraction

{
  "id": "1ca9cf71d4a06bf79de311170886a223a5da8c8d48de50d9946a1e6b92a67f8f",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-3v3m-wc6v-x4x3",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "ArgoCD ServerSideDiff is vulnerable to Kubernetes Secret Extraction",
    "summary": "### Summary There is a missing authorization and data-masking gap in Argo CD's ServerSideDiff endpoint that allows an attacker with read-only access to extract plaintext Kubernetes Secret data from etcd via the Kubernetes API server's Server-Side Apply dry-run mechanism. ### Details Argo CD masks Secret data in every endpoint that returns Kubernetes resource state except one. All the other endpoints such as GetManifests, GetManifestsWithFiles, GetResource and PatchResource utilize hideSecretData() to mask the returned secret value. The vulnerable function ServerSideDiff gRPC/REST endpoint (/application.ApplicationService/ServerSideDiff) constructs its response with raw, unmasked PredictedLive and NormalizedLive states: ``` // server/application/application.go:3051-3062 responseDiffs = append(responseDiffs, &v1alpha1.ResourceDiff{ TargetState: string(diffRes.PredictedLive), LiveState: string(diffRes.NormalizedLive), }) ``` A user only requires RBAC to call this ServerSideDiff function. Every authenticated Argo CD user has get access via the default role:catch-all policy. However, Argo CD has a defense layer called removeWebhookMutation() that normally strips non-Argo CD-managed fields from the Server Side Apply (SSA) dry-run response and merges them with the client-provided (masked) live state. This prevents real Secret values from leaking through the diff. However, this defense is entirely skipped when the Application has the annotation argocd.argoproj.io/compare-options: Inc",
    "evidence": "osv:GHSA-3v3m-wc6v-x4x3",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3",
          "evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "3.2.11",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "3.3.9",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      }
    ],
    "severity": "critical",
    "structured": {
      "id": "GHSA-3v3m-wc6v-x4x3",
      "aliases": [
        "BIT-argo-cd-2026-42880",
        "CVE-2026-42880",
        "CVE-2026-43824",
        "GHSA-3v3m-wc6v-x4x3",
        "GO-2026-5099"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "SEMVER",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "3.2.0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "3.2.11"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3",
            "purl": "pkg:golang/github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3",
            "ecosystem": "Go"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/05/GHSA-3v3m-wc6v-x4x3/GHSA-3v3m-wc6v-x4x3.json"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "SEMVER",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "3.3.0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "3.3.9"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3",
            "purl": "pkg:golang/github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v3",
            "ecosystem": "Go"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/05/GHSA-3v3m-wc6v-x4x3/GHSA-3v3m-wc6v-x4x3.json"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-21T03:11:56.342686369Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/security/advisories/GHSA-3v3m-wc6v-x4x3",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42880",
        "https://github.com/argoproj/argo-cd"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cwe_ids": [
          "CWE-200",
          "CWE-212"
        ],
        "severity": "CRITICAL",
        "github_reviewed": true,
        "nvd_published_at": "2026-05-07T23:16:32Z",
        "github_reviewed_at": "2026-05-07T01:56:53Z"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2026-42880",
        "evidence": "/aliases"
      },
      {
        "value": "CVE-2026-43824",
        "evidence": "/aliases"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/database_specific/severity"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 391582,
  "published_at": "2026-05-07T01:56:53+00:00"
}