Woodpecker: Privilege escalation via unrestricted serviceAccountName in the Kubernetes backend

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS 4.0

8.2 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N · score source

EPSS

• CVE-2026-61549: 0.28% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 20.30 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact A privilege escalation vulnerability affects Woodpecker instances using the Kubernetes backend. The pipeline option backendoptions.kubernetes.serviceAccountName was passed directly to the pod spec without any admin gating. Who is impacted: any operator running the Kubernetes backend. Any user with Push permission on a connected repository can run pipeline pods under an arbitrary ServiceAccount in the pipeline namespace, gaining that account's RBAC permissions. If a privileged ServiceAccount is reachable in that namespace, this can lead to secret exfiltration (database credentials, API keys, TLS certs) and full cluster takeover. Patches https://github.com/woodpecker-ci/woodpecker/pull/6792 Workarounds Operators who cannot upgrade immediately can mitigate by any of: - Restrict Push access on repositories connected to the Kubernetes-backed instance to trusted users only. - Harden the pipeline namespace: ensure no privileged ServiceAccount exists or is bound in the namespace where…

Published by the source

14 Jul 2026, 20:29 UTC

Last modified by the source

14 Jul 2026, 20:29 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:24 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-qf34-295c-26v8

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-61549

Advisory: Woodpecker: Privilege escalation via unrestricted serviceAccountName in the Kubernetes backend
IDs: CVE-2026-61549, GHSA-qf34-295c-26v8
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-61549 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:24 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.2)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Partial vendor fix; fixed versions by package: go.woodpecker-ci.org/woodpecker/v3 3.16.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/woodpecker-ci/woodpecker: affected >= 1.0.0, <= 1.0.4
- Go go.woodpecker-ci.org/woodpecker/v2: affected <= 2.8.3
- Go go.woodpecker-ci.org/woodpecker/v3: affected < 3.16.0; fixed in 3.16.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/woodpecker-ci/woodpecker: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go go.woodpecker-ci.org/woodpecker/v2: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go go.woodpecker-ci.org/woodpecker/v3: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
No complete vendor fix is recorded. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check this record again before closing anything.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on github.com/woodpecker-ci/woodpecker, go.woodpecker-ci.org/woodpecker/v2, go.woodpecker-ci.org/woodpecker/v3.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-qf34-295c-26v8 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-qf34-295c-26v8 lists affected ranges: Go go.woodpecker-ci.org/woodpecker/v3 >=0 =1.0.0 =0 <=2.8.3)

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