{"id":"CVE-2023-27581","aliases":["EUVD-2023-0908","GHSA-6q4m-7476-932w"],"status":"published","title":"github-slug-action vulnerable to arbitrary code execution","description":"github-slug-action is a GitHub Action to expose slug value of GitHub environment variables inside of one's GitHub workflow. Starting in version 4.0.0` and prior to version 4.4.1, this action uses the `github.head_ref` parameter in an insecure way. This vulnerability can be triggered by any user on GitHub on any workflow using the action on pull requests. They just need to create a pull request with a branch name, which can contain the attack payload. This can be used to execute code on the GitHub runners and to exfiltrate any secrets one uses in the CI pipeline. A patched action is available in version 4.4.1. No workaround is available.","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-11","score":0.01576,"percentile":0.75791,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-77"],"published":"2023-03-13T20:19:23Z","modified":"2026-10-28T02:30:37Z","fixes":[{"ecosystem":"GitHub Actions","package":"rlespinasse/github-slug-action","fixed_in":["4.4.1"],"sources":["ghsa","osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"ghsa","ecosystem":"GitHub Actions","package":"rlespinasse/github-slug-action","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"4.0.0"},{"fixed":"4.4.1"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"GitHub Actions","package":"rlespinasse/github-slug-action","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"4.0.0"},{"fixed":"4.4.1"}]}]}],"products":[{"vendor":"github-slug-action_project","product":"github-slug-action"},{"vendor":"rlespinasse","product":"github-slug-action"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/rlespinasse/github-slug-action/security/advisories/GHSA-6q4m-7476-932w","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","x_transferred","Vendor Advisory","advisory","web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/rlespinasse/github-slug-action/commit/102b1a064a9b145e56556e22b18b19c624538d94","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Patch","fix","web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/rlespinasse/github-slug-action/releases/tag/v4.4.1","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Release Notes","web"]},{"url":"https://securitylab.github.com/research/github-actions-untrusted-input/","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Exploit","Third Party Advisory","web"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-27581","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://securitylab.github.com/research/github-actions-untrusted-input","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-6q4m-7476-932w"},{"url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/27xxx/CVE-2023-27581.json","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/rlespinasse/github-slug-action","tags":["package"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2023-27581","title":"github-slug-action vulnerable to arbitrary code execution","description":"github-slug-action is a GitHub Action to expose slug value of GitHub environment variables inside of one's GitHub workflow. Starting in version 4.0.0` and prior to version 4.4.1, this action uses the `github.head_ref` parameter in an insecure way. This vulnerability can be triggered by any user on GitHub on any workflow using the action on pull requests. They just need to create a pull request with a branch name, which can contain the attack payload. This can be used to execute code on the GitHub runners and to exfiltrate any secrets one uses in the CI pipeline. A patched action is available in version 4.4.1. No workaround is available.","status":"published","published":"2023-03-13T20:19:23.35Z","modified":"2025-02-25T14:58:17.504Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-77"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:35:26.261013Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2023-0908","description":"github-slug-action is a GitHub Action to expose slug value of GitHub environment variables inside of one's GitHub workflow. Starting in version 4.0.0` and prior to version 4.4.1, this action uses the `github.head_ref` parameter in an insecure way. This vulnerability can be triggered by any user on GitHub on any workflow using the action on pull requests. They just need to create a pull request with a branch name, which can contain the attack payload. This can be used to execute code on the GitHub runners and to exfiltrate any secrets one uses in the CI pipeline. A patched action is available in version 4.4.1. No workaround is available.","status":"published","published":"2023-03-13T20:19:23Z","modified":"2025-02-25T14:58:17Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T20:53:24.646946Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-6q4m-7476-932w","title":"github-slug-action vulnerable to arbitrary code execution","description":"### Impact\n\nThis action uses the `github.head_ref` parameter in an insecure way. \n\nThis vulnerability can be triggered by any user on GitHub on any workflow using the action on pull requests. They just need to create a pull request with a branch name, which can contain the attack payload. (Note that first-time PR requests will not be run - but the attacker can submit a valid PR before submitting an invalid PR).  This can be used to execute code on the GitHub runners (potentially use it for crypto-mining, and waste your resources) and to exfiltrate any secrets you use in the CI pipeline.\n\n### Patches\n\n\u003e Pass the variable as an environment variable and then use the environment variable instead of substituting it directly.\n\nPatched action is available on tag **v4**, tag **v4.4.1**, and any tag beyond.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nNo workaround is available if impacted, please upgrade the version\n\n\u003e ℹ️ **v3** and **v4** are compatibles.\n\n### References\n\n[Here](https://securitylab.github.com/research/github-actions-untrusted-input/) is a set of blog posts by Github's security team explaining this issue.\n\n### Thanks\n\nThanks to the team of researchers from Purdue University, who are working on finding vulnerabilities in CI/CD configurations of open-source software. Their tool detected this security vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2023-03-13T20:43:33Z","modified":"2025-02-18T22:42:29Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-77"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:38:32.275316Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2023-27581","description":"github-slug-action is a GitHub Action to expose slug value of GitHub environment variables inside of one's GitHub workflow. Starting in version 4.0.0` and prior to version 4.4.1, this action uses the `github.head_ref` parameter in an insecure way. This vulnerability can be triggered by any user on GitHub on any workflow using the action on pull requests. They just need to create a pull request with a branch name, which can contain the attack payload. This can be used to execute code on the GitHub runners and to exfiltrate any secrets one uses in the CI pipeline. A patched action is available in version 4.4.1. No workaround is available.","status":"published","published":"2023-03-13T21:15:14.037Z","modified":"2026-06-17T05:45:30.863Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"},{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"primary"}],"cwes":["CWE-77"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:07:49.031498Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2023-27581","title":"github-slug-action vulnerable to arbitrary code execution","description":"github-slug-action is a GitHub Action to expose slug value of GitHub environment variables inside of one's GitHub workflow. Starting in version 4.0.0` and prior to version 4.4.1, this action uses the `github.head_ref` parameter in an insecure way. This vulnerability can be triggered by any user on GitHub on any workflow using the action on pull requests. They just need to create a pull request with a branch name, which can contain the attack payload. This can be used to execute code on the GitHub runners and to exfiltrate any secrets one uses in the CI pipeline. A patched action is available in version 4.4.1. No workaround is available.","status":"published","published":"2023-03-13T20:19:23.35Z","modified":"2026-10-28T02:30:37.694769961Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-77"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:44:31.135751Z"},{"id":"GHSA-6q4m-7476-932w","title":"github-slug-action vulnerable to arbitrary code execution","description":"### Impact\n\nThis action uses the `github.head_ref` parameter in an insecure way. \n\nThis vulnerability can be triggered by any user on GitHub on any workflow using the action on pull requests. They just need to create a pull request with a branch name, which can contain the attack payload. (Note that first-time PR requests will not be run - but the attacker can submit a valid PR before submitting an invalid PR).  This can be used to execute code on the GitHub runners (potentially use it for crypto-mining, and waste your resources) and to exfiltrate any secrets you use in the CI pipeline.\n\n### Patches\n\n\u003e Pass the variable as an environment variable and then use the environment variable instead of substituting it directly.\n\nPatched action is available on tag **v4**, tag **v4.4.1**, and any tag beyond.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nNo workaround is available if impacted, please upgrade the version\n\n\u003e ℹ️ **v3** and **v4** are compatibles.\n\n### References\n\n[Here](https://securitylab.github.com/research/github-actions-untrusted-input/) is a set of blog posts by Github's security team explaining this issue.\n\n### Thanks\n\nThanks to the team of researchers from Purdue University, who are working on finding vulnerabilities in CI/CD configurations of open-source software. Their tool detected this security vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2023-03-13T20:43:33Z","modified":"2026-09-10T03:49:52.759231755Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-77"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:46:39.965326Z"}]}}