LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2026-40938: Tekton Pipelines: Git Resolver Unsanitized Revision Parameter Enables git Argument Injection Leading to RCE

Tekton Pipelines project provides k8s-style resources for declaring CI/CD-style pipelines. Starting in version 1.0.0 and prior to versions 1.0.2, 1.3.4, 1.6.2, 1.9.3, and 1.11.1, the git resolver's revision parameter is passed directly as a positional argument to git fetch without any validation that it does not begin with a - character. Because git parses flags from mixed positional arguments, an attacker can inject arbitrary git fetch flags such as --upload-pack=<binary>. Combined with the validateRepoURL function explicitly permitting URLs that begin with / (local filesystem paths), a tenant who can submit ResolutionRequest objects can chain these two behaviors to execute an arbitrary binary on the resolver pod. The tekton-pipelines-resolvers ServiceAccount holds cluster-wide get/list/watch on all Secrets, so code execution on the resolver pod enables full cluster-wide secret exfiltration. Versions 1.0.2, 1.3.4, 1.6.2, 1.9.3, and 1.11.1 fix the issue.

HighCVSS 8.5Not KEV-listedUpdated
Discuss exposureBack to CVEs
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

A user permitted to submit Tekton ResolutionRequest objects could abuse the Git resolver to run code inside its pod. Because that pod’s service account can read Secrets cluster-wide, successful exploitation could expose credentials and other sensitive data across the Kubernetes cluster.

Executive priority

Treat as an urgent remediation for multi-tenant or broadly delegated clusters. Prioritize environments where lower-privileged users can submit resolution requests, because compromise may expose Secrets across the entire cluster. Isolated deployments without that capability should still validate versions and permissions promptly.

Technical view

The Git resolver passes an unvalidated revision beginning with “-” to git fetch. Git may interpret it as an option. Combined with permitted local-path repository URLs, this enables arbitrary binary execution in the resolver pod, potentially compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability across security boundaries.

Likely exposure

Exposure requires an affected Tekton Pipelines version, use of the Git resolver, and an attacker able to submit ResolutionRequest objects. The documented affected ranges span 1.0.0 through selected releases before 1.11.1; confirm the precise branch-specific ranges against the advisory.

Exploitation context

Exploitation requires low privileges but has high complexity, according to CVSS 3.1. The bundle marks KEV false, and no provided source reports active exploitation. Successful exploitation could enable cluster-wide secret exfiltration because of the resolver service account’s documented permissions.

Researcher notes

The vulnerability chains argument injection in the revision parameter with acceptance of local filesystem repository paths. The resulting impact depends on ResolutionRequest access and the resolver service account’s effective permissions. The source bundle does not establish public exploitation, exploit availability, or compromise indicators beyond suspicious request values.

Mitigation direction

  • Upgrade to the fixed release for your branch: 1.0.2, 1.3.4, 1.6.2, 1.9.3, or 1.11.1.
  • Restrict who can create or submit ResolutionRequest objects until upgrades are complete.
  • Review whether the resolver service account requires cluster-wide Secret access and reduce permissions where operationally feasible.
  • Follow applicable Tekton and Red Hat advisories for platform-specific packages and remediation guidance.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Tekton Pipelines versions and compare them with every affected branch range in the advisory.
  • Confirm whether the Git resolver is enabled and reachable by untrusted or lower-privileged tenants.
  • Review authorization policies governing creation and submission of ResolutionRequest objects.
  • Audit ResolutionRequests for revision values beginning with hyphens or repository URLs referencing local filesystem paths.
  • Verify the resolver deployment uses patched images and that all resolver pods were replaced after upgrading.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
5

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · medium confidence lookup

CWE-88: Command execution behavior lookup

Command injection weaknesses can lead defenders to review execution techniques and command interpreter telemetry. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
description · low confidence lookup

Execution behavior lookup

The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
description · low confidence lookup

Credential and access behavior lookup

The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2026-40938 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
8.5 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

2CVSS vectors
5Timeline events
2ADP providers
11Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: pocAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: total

CVSS vector scores

2 official scores

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
8.5CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H1.86redhat-SADP
7.5CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.65.9GitHub_M

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

8.5High
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2026-40938Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Made public.

  3. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  4. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Reported to Red Hat.

  5. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
redhat-SADPgithub.com/tektoncd/pipeline: Tekton Pipelines: Arbitrary code execution and secret exfiltration via malicious git commands
other:Red Hat severity ratingcvssV3_1
  • 2026-04-21T21:02:16.557Z: Reported to Red Hat.
  • 2026-04-21T20:45:24.658Z: Made public.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
tektoncdpipeline>= 1.0.0, < 1.0.2, >= 1.2.0, < 1.3.4, >= 1.4.0, < 1.6.2, >= 1.7.0, < 1.9.3, >= 1.10.0, < 1.11.1Listed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-88

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-88 · source CWE mapping

Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')

Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

Open CWE intelligenceSame-CWE CVEs