MediumCVE-2026-54168

    Tektoncd Pipelines-as-code: Improper Privilege Management (CVE-2026-54168)

    Published Last modified Sources: CVE.org, OSV, Hersteller

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    What is affected, what to do

    Pipelines-as-Code is a CI/CD system that lets users define Tekton pipelines in source code repositories. Prior to 0.37.8, 0.39.6, 0.42.1, and 0.48.0, a GitHub App installation token created during webhook processing is not scoped to the repository that triggered the event when the App is installed across multiple repositories.

    Update Tektoncd Pipelines-as-code to version 0.37.8.

    Affected
    • Tektoncd Pipelines-as-code gte 0.38.0, < 0.39.6..*
    • Tektoncd Pipelines-as-code lt *..0.37.8
    Fixed in
    • Tektoncd Pipelines-as-code 0.37.8

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    6.5

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v3

    6.5

    CVSS v3

    Severity Medium on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: CVE.org, OSV, Hersteller

    0.6 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 48.2

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Medium
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    77.25 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    6.5 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    6.5
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    0.6 %
    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    48.2
    High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: none known · not automatable · Technical impact: partial
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 17 September 2026
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-269, CWE-862

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Handle the vulnerability in regular vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    Pipelines-as-Code is a CI/CD system that lets users define Tekton pipelines in source code repositories. Prior to 0.37.8, 0.39.6, 0.42.1, and 0.48.0, a GitHub App installation token created during webhook processing is not scoped to the repository that triggered the event when the App is installed across multiple repositories. A user with push access to one repository can submit a PipelineRun containing a pipelinesascode.tekton.dev/task remote task annotation that targets a private repository in the same installation. When ScopeTokenToListOfRepos returns no explicit scope, the missing triggering repository ID leaves the token able to access the entire installation. Pipelines-as-Code resolves and inlines the remote private task with that token, disclosing the repository's Tekton definitions. The demonstrated impact is read-only and does not provide write access. This issue is fixed in versions 0.37.8, 0.39.6, 0.42.1, and 0.48.0.

    Source: NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, CVE.org (MITRE), OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities), GitHub Security Advisories

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    tektoncdpipelines-as-code
    • ≥ 0.38.0, < 0.39.6
    • < 0.37.8
    • —
    • 0.37.8
    gogithub.com/openshift-pipelines/pipelines-as-code
    • —
    • 0.38.0
    • 0.40.0
    • 0.43.0
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —

    Vendors and products

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-269Improper Privilege Management

      Class

      The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-269

    • CWE-862Missing Authorization

      Class

      The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-862

    References & sources

    • github.comtektoncd/pipelines-as-code/security/advisories/GHSA-6f2p-296r-c…web, x_refsource_CONFIRM
    • github.comtektoncd/pipelines-as-codepackage
    • github.comtektoncd/pipelines-as-code/commit/001782829e82b83ecb3da903f5a02…x_refsource_MISC
    • github.comtektoncd/pipelines-as-code/commit/40813976a77920feaf52671320d6d…x_refsource_MISC
    • github.comtektoncd/pipelines-as-code/commit/ac6fded6dfb69ade7197d4eeed6e9…x_refsource_MISC
    • github.comtektoncd/pipelines-as-code/commit/e0c4a11ea3800ab9d26cf3a8ae92b…x_refsource_MISC
    • github.comtektoncd/pipelines-as-code/releases/tag/v0.37.8x_refsource_MISC
    • github.comtektoncd/pipelines-as-code/releases/tag/v0.39.6x_refsource_MISC
    • github.comtektoncd/pipelines-as-code/releases/tag/v0.42.1x_refsource_MISC
    • github.comtektoncd/pipelines-as-code/releases/tag/v0.48.0x_refsource_MISC

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: no

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      SSVC assessmentadded
      —
      {"id":"CVE-2026-54168","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"partial"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-09-17T14:30:42.954463Z"}

      Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    2. ReceivedGitHub

      CVSS V3.1: AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

      Weakness type: CWE-269, CWE-862

      Description added or changed

      Show 14 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Descriptionadded
      —
      Pipelines-as-Code is a CI/CD system that lets users define Tekton pipelines in source code repositories. Prior to 0.37.8, 0.39.6, 0.42.1, and 0.48.0, a GitHub App installation token created during webhook processing is not scoped to the repository that triggered the event when the App is installed across multiple repositories. A user with push access to one repository can submit a PipelineRun containing a pipelinesascode.tekton.dev/task remote task annotation that targets a private repository in the same installation. When ScopeTokenToListOfRepos returns no explicit scope, the missing triggering repository ID leaves the token able to access the entire installation. Pipelines-as-Code resolves and inlines the remote private task with that token, disclosing the repository's Tekton definitions. The demonstrated impact is read-only and does not provide write access. This issue is fixed in versions 0.37.8, 0.39.6, 0.42.1, and 0.48.0.
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
      Weakness type (CWE)added
      —
      CWE-269
      Weakness type (CWE)added
      —
      CWE-862
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/54xxx/CVE-2026-54168.json">CVE-2026-54168</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/tektoncd/pipelines-as-code/commit/001782829e82b83ecb3da903f5a024ca0826b64c
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/tektoncd/pipelines-as-code/commit/40813976a77920feaf52671320d6d3c5ff08eb7e
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/tektoncd/pipelines-as-code/commit/ac6fded6dfb69ade7197d4eeed6e90ddbe1b79bc
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/tektoncd/pipelines-as-code/commit/e0c4a11ea3800ab9d26cf3a8ae92b74cf18527c3
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/tektoncd/pipelines-as-code/releases/tag/v0.37.8
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/tektoncd/pipelines-as-code/releases/tag/v0.39.6
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/tektoncd/pipelines-as-code/releases/tag/v0.42.1
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/tektoncd/pipelines-as-code/releases/tag/v0.48.0
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/tektoncd/pipelines-as-code/security/advisories/GHSA-6f2p-296r-cc28

      Source identifier: security-advisories@github.com

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