Argo CD Image Updater: proxy URL on an SSH Git repo is injected into a shell command

Impact

A proxy URL configured on an SSH Git repository is interpolated into a shell-interpreted SSH command, so anyone able to set that proxy value can inject shell metacharacters and run commands as the Image Updater process. Image Updater is a GitOps controller: it holds Git write credentials and registry credentials and its commits become the cluster's desired state. Command execution there lets an attacker steal those credentials and push manifest changes that the GitOps pipeline then applies to the cluster - including the node pools running GPU workloads. Shipped by Red Hat as part of OpenShift GitOps.

Who can reach it

An authenticated actor able to set the proxy field on an SSH Git repository configuration consumed by Image Updater - typically a user with repository-configuration rights in Argo CD, or anyone who can write the repository secret.

What to do

Track the upstream fix in argocd-image-updater PR #1905 and the Red Hat OpenShift GitOps advisory; the CVE record lists no fixed version yet, so do not assume one. Remediation is a controller image update and pod restart, no node drain. Meanwhile, restrict who can set repository proxy values and rotate the Image Updater Git and registry credentials if untrusted users held that access.

References

Related entries

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