CVE-2026-40938: Tekton Pipelines argument injection in Git resolver revision parameter

CVE-2026-40938 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.5 · Published 2026-04-21

Tekton Pipeline is a framework for creating continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) systems. A vulnerability in its Git resolver allows an attacker to execute malicious code on the system by providing a specially crafted revision parameter. This could lead to the theft of sensitive cluster-wide secrets, potentially allowing an attacker to take control of the entire cloud environment.

Technologies: github.com/tektoncd/pipeline (Go), Linuxfoundation Tekton Pipelines, Tekton Pipelines. Vendors: Go, Linuxfoundation, Tekton.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-40938 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-40938 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-40938?
High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 21 April 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
github.com/tektoncd/pipeline (Go) >= 1.0.0, <= 1.11.0, SEMVER:introduced=1.0.0,fixed=1.0.2,introduced=1.1.0,fixed=1.3.4,introduced=1.4.0,fixed=1.6.2,introduced=1.7.0,fixed=1.9.3,introduced=1.10.0,fixed=1.11.1, SEMVER:introduced=1.10.0,fixed=1.11.1; Tekton Pipelines 1.0.0 to 1.11.0; TektonCD Pipeline >= 1.10.0, < 1.11.1; >= 1.7.0, < 1.9.3; >= 1.4.0, < 1.6.2; >= 1.2.0, < 1.3.4; >= 1.0.0, < 1.0.2.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-40938?
Yes. github.com/tektoncd/pipeline (Go): upgrade to 1.11.1 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-40938 attacked?
It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-40938?
Check whether you run github.com/tektoncd/pipeline (Go), Linuxfoundation Tekton Pipelines, Tekton Pipelines or one of the others listed at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

  • github.com/tektoncd/pipeline (Go): upgrade to 1.11.1 or later
    go get github.com/tektoncd/pipeline@v1.11.1

Technical details

The Tekton Git resolver fails to sanitize the 'revision' parameter before passing it as a positional argument to 'git fetch'. An attacker can inject git flags such as '--upload-pack' by starting the revision string with a hyphen. When combined with the resolver's support for local filesystem paths (URLs starting with '/'), this allows the execution of arbitrary binaries present on the resolver pod. Because the resolver's ServiceAccount typically has cluster-wide permissions to read Secrets, successful exploitation allows for full secret exfiltration and subsequent privilege escalation. Patches are available in versions 1.11.1, 1.9.3, 1.6.2, 1.3.4, and 1.0.2.

Affected products

  • TektonCD Tekton Pipeline >= 1.10.0, < 1.11.1; >= 1.7.0, < 1.9.3; >= 1.4.0, < 1.6.2; >= 1.2.0, < 1.3.4; >= 1.0.0, < 1.0.2

Identifiers

  • CVE-2026-40938
  • GHSA-94jr-7pqp-xhcq
  • GO-2026-5272

Timeline

  • 2026-04-21: disclosed
  • 2026-04-21: advisory

References

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