Argo Affected by SSO RBAC Delegation Nil Pointer Dereference DoS (gatekeeper.go)
Date: 2026-05
Affected: go/github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v4
Attack vector: dos
Category: vulnerability-disclosure
Severity: High
CVE: CVE-2026-42183
CVE-2026-42297
CWE: CWE-476
CWE-862

### Summary A nil pointer dereference in `server/auth/gatekeeper.go` `rbacAuthorization()` causes a panic (denial of service) for SSO users whose claims match a namespace-level RBAC rule but not an SSO-namespace rule, when `SSO_DELEGATE_RBAC_TO_NAMESPACE=true`. ### Details When `getServiceAccount(claims, ssoNamespace)` returns nil (no matching rule), the error is suppressed and `loginAccount` remains nil. If RBAC delegation finds a matching `namespaceAccount`, line 304 calls `precedence(loginAccount)` which unconditionally accesses `serviceAccount.Annotations` — nil pointer dereference. **Affected code (v4.0.4):** ```go // gatekeeper.go:304 } else if precedence(namespaceAccount) > precedence(loginAccount) { // loginAccount is nil here -> precedence(nil) -> PANIC // gatekeeper.go:232-234 func precedence(serviceAccount *corev1.ServiceAccount) int { i, _ := strconv.Atoi(serviceAccount.Annotations[common.AnnotationKeyRBACRulePrecedence]) return i } ``` ### PoC **Live-tested 2026-04-17:** kind cluster, Argo Workflows v4.0.4, Dex v2.43.1 OIDC provider. 1. Deploy Argo Workflows with `--auth-mode=sso --auth-mode=client`, SSO pointing to Dex, RBAC enabled. 2. Set `SSO_DELEGATE_RBAC_TO_NAMESPACE=true` on the argo-server deployment. 3. Create an RBAC ServiceAccount with `workflows.argoproj.io/rbac-rule: "true"` annotation in a target namespace (e.g., `target-ns`). 4. Do **not** create a matching RBAC rule in the SSO namespace (`argo`). 5. Authenticate via the Dex SSO f


Mitigations:

Architectural layers (MAESTRO):