GHSA-p4gq-3vxj-f4jq
Argo Affected by SSO RBAC Delegation Nil Pointer Dereference DoS (gatekeeper.go)
Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v4 | >= 4.0.0, < 4.0.5 | 4.0.5 |
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
### Summary
A nil pointer dereference in `server/auth/gatekeeper.go` `rbacAuthorization()` causes a panic (denial of service) for SSO users whose claims match a namespace-level RBAC rule but not an SSO-namespace rule, when `SSO_DELEGATE_RBAC_TO_NAMESPACE=true`.
### Details
When `getServiceAccount(claims, ssoNamespace)` returns nil (no matching rule), the error is suppressed and `loginAccount` remains nil. If RBAC delegation finds a matching `namespaceAccount`, line 304 calls `precedence(loginAccount)` which unconditionally accesses `serviceAccount.Annotations` — nil pointer dereference.
**Affected code (v4.0.4):**
```go
// gatekeeper.go:304
} else if precedence(namespaceAccount) > precedence(loginAccount) {
// loginAccount is nil here -> precedence(nil) -> PANIC
// gatekeeper.go:232-234
func precedence(serviceAccount *corev1.ServiceAccount) int {
i, _ := strconv.Atoi(serviceAccount.Annotations[common.AnnotationKeyRBACRulePrecedence])
return i
}
```
### PoC
**Live-tested 2026-04-17:** kind cluster, Argo Workflows v4.0.4, Dex v2.43.1 OIDC provider.
1. Deploy Argo Workflows with `--auth-mode=sso --auth-mode=client`, SSO pointing to Dex, RBAC enabled.
2. Set `SSO_DELEGATE_RBAC_TO_NAMESPACE=true` on the argo-server deployment.
3. Create an RBAC ServiceAccount with `workflows.argoproj.io/rbac-rule: "true"` annotation in a target namespace (e.g., `target-ns`).
4. Do **not** create a matching RBAC rule in the SSO namespace (`argo`).
5. Authenticate via the Dex SSO flow.
6. Request `GET /api/v1/workflows/target-ns` with the SSO session cookie.
7. Server returns HTTP 500: `{"code":13,"message":"runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference"}`
8. Server logs: `Recovered from panic` with stack trace at `gatekeeper.go:233` (`precedence()`) called from `gatekeeper.go:304`.
Every subsequent API request from affected SSO users triggers the same panic.
### Impact
Permanent denial of service for any SSO user whose claims don't match SSO-namespace RBAC but do match a target namespace rule. Realistic in multi-tenant deployments with per-namespace RBAC. The gRPC recovery interceptor catches the panic so the server process survives, but the affected user gets HTTP 500 on every request.
### Suggested Fix
Add nil check: `if loginAccount == nil || precedence(namespaceAccount) > precedence(loginAccount)`
### AI Disclosure
This advisory was prepared with AI assistance (Claude Code, Anthropic).
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.
- https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/security/advisories/GHSA-p4gq-3vxj-f4jq
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42183
- https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/commit/c4cc17d0c034fa9a9cc01ef1af6c8016c93071d4
- https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows
- https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/releases/tag/v4.0.5