CVE-2026-33211: Github.com/tektoncd/pipeline Path Traversal Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-j5q5-j9gm-2w5c",
  "modified" : "2026-03-25T20:48:04Z",
  "published" : "2026-03-18T20:20:10Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-33211" ],
  "summary" : "Path traversal in Tekton Pipelines git resolver allows reading arbitrary files from the resolver pod",
  "details" : "### Summary\n\nThe Tekton Pipelines git resolver is vulnerable to path traversal via the `pathInRepo` parameter. A tenant with permission to create `ResolutionRequests` (e.g. by creating `TaskRuns` or `PipelineRuns` that use the git resolver) can read arbitrary files from the resolver pod's filesystem, including ServiceAccount tokens. The file contents are returned base64-encoded in `resolutionrequest.status.data`.\n\n### Details\n\nThe git resolver's `getFileContent()` function in `pkg/resolution/resolver/git/repository.go` constructs a file path by joining the repository clone directory with the user-supplied `pathInRepo` parameter:\n\n```go\nfileContents, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join(repo.directory, path))\n```\n\nThe `pathInRepo` parameter is not validated for path traversal sequences. An attacker can supply values like `../../../../etc/passwd` to escape the cloned repository directory and read arbitrary files from the resolver pod's filesystem.\n\nThe vulnerability was introduced in commit `318006c4e3a5` which switched the git resolver from the go-git library (using an in-memory filesystem that cannot be escaped) to shelling out to the `git` binary and reading files with `os.ReadFile()` from the real filesystem.\n\n### Impact\n\n**Arbitrary file read** — A namespace-scoped tenant who can create `TaskRuns` or `PipelineRuns` with git resolver parameters can read any file readable by the resolver pod process.\n\n**Credential exfiltration and privilege escalation** — The resolver pod's ServiceAccount token is readable at a well-known path (`/var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/token`). In the default RBAC configuration, the `tekton-pipelines-resolvers` ServiceAccount has `get`, `list`, and `watch` permissions on `secrets` cluster-wide. An attacker who exfiltrates this token gains the ability to read all Secrets across all namespaces, escalating from namespace-scoped access to cluster-wide secret access.\n\n### Patches\n\nFixed in 1.0.x, 1.3.x, 1.6.x, 1.9.x, 1.10.x.\n\nThe fix validates `pathInRepo` to reject paths containing `..` components at parameter validation time, and adds a containment check using `filepath.EvalSymlinks()` to prevent symlink-based escapes from attacker-controlled repositories.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nThere is no workaround other than restricting which users can create `TaskRuns`, `PipelineRuns`, or `ResolutionRequests` that use the git resolver. Administrators can also reduce the impact by scoping the resolver pod's ServiceAccount RBAC permissions using a custom `ClusterRole` with more restrictive rules.\n\n### Affected Versions\n\nAll releases from **v1.0.0** through **v1.10.0**, including all patch releases:\n\n- v1.0.0, v1.1.0, v1.2.0\n- v1.3.0, v1.3.1, v1.3.2\n- v1.4.0, v1.5.0, v1.6.0, v1.7.0\n- v1.9.0, v1.9.1, v1.10.0\n\nReleases prior to v1.0.0 (e.g. v0.70.0 and earlier) are **not affected** because they used the go-git library's in-memory filesystem where path traversal cannot escape the git worktree.\n\n### Acknowledgments\n\nThis vulnerability was reported by Oleh Konko (@1seal), who provided a thorough vulnerability analysis, proof-of-concept, and review of the fix. Thank you!\n\n### References\n\n- Fix: _(link to merged PR/commit)_\n- Introduced in: `318006c4e3a5` (\"fix: resolve Git Anonymous Resolver excessive memory usage\")",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/tektoncd/pipeline"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "1.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.0.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/tektoncd/pipeline"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "1.1.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.3.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/tektoncd/pipeline"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "1.4.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.6.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/tektoncd/pipeline"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "1.7.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.9.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/tektoncd/pipeline"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "1.10.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.10.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/security/advisories/GHSA-j5q5-j9gm-2w5c"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-33211"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/commit/10fa538f9a2b6d01c75138f1ed7ba3da0e34687c"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/commit/318006c4e3a5"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/commit/3ca7bc6e6dd1d97f80b84f78370d91edaf023cbd"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/commit/961388fcf3374bc7656d28ab58ca84987e0a75ae"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/commit/b1fee65b88aa969069c14c120045e97c37d9ee5e"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/commit/cdb4e1e97a4f3170f9bc2cbfff83a6c8107bc3db"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/commit/ec7755031a183b345cf9e64bea0e0505c1b9cb78"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-03-18T20:20:10Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-03-24T00:16:29Z"
  }
}