Bug 2468446 (CVE-2026-42296)

Summary: CVE-2026-42296 Argo Workflows: github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows: Argo Workflows: Privilege escalation via security control bypass
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: high Docs Contact:
Priority: high    
Version: unspecifiedCC: jkoehler, lphiri
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in Argo Workflows. A user with create Workflow permission can bypass the `templateReferencing: Strict` security control. This bypass allows the user to gain host network access, switch service accounts, override pod security context, add tolerations to schedule on control-plane nodes, or enable Service Account (SA) token mounting. This could lead to privilege escalation and unauthorized access within the Kubernetes cluster.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-05-09 05:01:50 UTC 
Argo Workflows is an open source container-native workflow engine for orchestrating parallel jobs on Kubernetes. Prior to versions 3.7.14 and 4.0.5, a user with create Workflow permission can bypass templateReferencing: Strict to get host network access, switch service accounts, override pod security context, add tolerations to schedule on control-plane nodes, or enable SA token mounting. This defeats the stated purpose of the feature. The practical impact depends on what Kubernetes-level controls are in place. Clusters with PodSecurity admission or OPA/Gatekeeper would independently block some of these (like hostNetwork). Clusters that rely on Argo's Strict mode as the primary enforcement layer are fully exposed. This issue has been patched in versions 3.7.14 and 4.0.5.