CVE-2025-32445: Argo Events Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2025-32445 Overview

Argo Events is an event-driven workflow automation framework for Kubernetes. A user with permission to create or modify EventSource and Sensor custom resources can gain privileged access to the host system and cluster, despite lacking direct administrative privileges. The vulnerable functionality allows for the customization of orchestrated pods via spec.template and spec.template.container, enabling specifications that could lead to unauthorized escalations.

Critical Impact
This vulnerability allows privilege escalation to the cluster host, potentially compromising the entire system infrastructure.

Affected Products

Argo Events v1.9.5 and earlier
Not Available
Not Available

Discovery Timeline

Not Available - Vulnerability discovered by Not Available
Not Available - Responsible disclosure to Not Available
2025-04-15 - CVE CVE-2025-32445 published to NVD
2025-04-16 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-32445

Vulnerability Analysis

Argo Events allows the customization of container specifications in EventSource and Sensor CRs. This capability can be abused to execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges, leading to potential system-wide compromise.

Root Cause

The root cause of this issue resides in the overly permissive customization options within the spec.template.container configurations of EventSource and Sensor CRs.

Attack Vector

This vulnerability can be exploited remotely via a network, given permissions to create or modify the vulnerable CRs.

yaml

# Example CR that might be exploited
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: EventSource
metadata:
  name: custom-event-source
spec:
  template:
    container:
      name: evil
      command: ["sh", "-c", "echo Added Backdoor"]

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-32445

Indicators of Compromise

Unknown or suspicious EventSource CRs
Unexpected container commands execution logs
Unauthorized access logs

Detection Strategies

Implement anomaly detection on CR modification activities. Utilize Kubernetes audit logs to monitor changes to EventSource and Sensor resources for unauthorized access patterns.

Monitoring Recommendations

Regularly audit Kubernetes cluster changes, focusing on CR creations and modifications. Employ SentinelOne’s behavioral monitoring to detect malicious activities promptly.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-32445

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict permissions for creating/modifying EventSource and Sensor CRs
Monitor and log all changes to Kubernetes CRs
Use network policies to limit pod communication

Patch Information

Upgrade Argo Events to version 1.9.6 to mitigate this vulnerability.

Workarounds

Apply restrictive RBAC policies to prevent unauthorized CR modifications.

bash

# Example RBAC policy
kind: Role
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
metadata:
  namespace: default
  name: no-eventsource-modification
rules:
- apiGroups: ["argoproj.io"]
  resources: ["eventsources", "sensors"]
  verbs: ["get", "list", "watch"]