Description
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.
Published: 2026-03-11
Score: 8.9 High
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: Privilege Escalation / Security Bypass
Action: Patch
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Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

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Tracking

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-3wf5-g532-rcrr Argo Workflows: WorkflowTemplate Security Bypass via podSpecPatch in Strict/Secure Reference Mode
History

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 19:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Argoproj argo Workflows
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:argoproj:argo_workflows:*:*:*:*:*:go:*:*
Vendors & Products Argoproj argo Workflows
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 8.1, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N'}


Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-807
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Important


Thu, 12 Mar 2026 10:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Argoproj
Argoproj argo-workflows
Vendors & Products Argoproj
Argoproj argo-workflows

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 16:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Wed, 11 Mar 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description 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.
Title WorkflowTemplate Security Bypass via podSpecPatch in Strict/Secure Reference Mode
Weaknesses CWE-863
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H'}


Subscriptions

Argoproj Argo-workflows Argo Workflows
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-03-11T16:03:52.643Z

Reserved: 2026-03-09T21:59:02.687Z

Link: CVE-2026-31892

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-03-11T16:03:34.183Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2026-03-11T16:16:44.033

Modified: 2026-03-17T19:17:55.270

Link: CVE-2026-31892

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Important

Publid Date: 2026-03-11T15:41:14Z

Links: CVE-2026-31892 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-03-23T09:55:26Z

Weaknesses