Woodpecker: Privilege escalation via unrestricted serviceAccountName in the Kubernetes backend

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-61549
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-09-15 15:17:20 UTC
Updated2026-09-16 04:18:37 UTC
DescriptionWoodpecker is a CI/CD engine. From 1.0.0 until 3.16.0, pipeline/backend/kubernetes/backend_options.go defines backend_options.kubernetes.serviceAccountName, and the Kubernetes backend in pipeline/backend/kubernetes/pod.go copies that pipeline-step value directly into the pod specification without administrator authorization. Any user with Push permission on a connected repository can therefore run pipeline pods under an arbitrary ServiceAccount in the pipeline namespace and inherit that account's RBAC permissions. When a privileged ServiceAccount is reachable, the attacker can exfiltrate secrets such as database credentials, API keys, and TLS certificates and may take over the cluster. This issue is fixed in version 3.16.0.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 9 CRITICAL from [email protected]

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Problem Types: CWE-269 | CWE-862 | CWE-269 CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management | CWE-862 CWE-862: Missing Authorization

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.0[email protected]Secondary9CRITICALCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/C...
4.0CNADECLARED9CRITICALCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
Present
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Sub Conf.
High
Sub Integrity
High
Sub Availability
High

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Woodpecker-ci Woodpecker affected >= 1.0.0, < 3.16.0 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/woodpecker-ci/woodpecker/commit/609ba481b5e912f59aaae8ca7bc22... [email protected] github.com
github.com/woodpecker-ci/woodpecker/security/advisories/GHSA-qf34-295c-26v8 [email protected] github.com
github.com/woodpecker-ci/woodpecker/commit/5df9d52260626c074c6caafb2dc83... [email protected] github.com
github.com/woodpecker-ci/woodpecker/pull/6792 [email protected] github.com
github.com/woodpecker-ci/woodpecker/releases/tag/v3.16.0 [email protected] github.com
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