Woodpecker is a CI/CD engine. From 1.0.0 until 3.16.0, pipeline/backend/kubernetes/backend_options.go defines backend_options.kubernetes.serviceAccountName, and the Kubernetes backend in pipeline/backend/kubernetes/pod.go copies that pipeline-step value directly into the pod specification without administrator authorization. Any user with Push permission on a connected repository can therefore run pipeline pods under an arbitrary ServiceAccount in the pipeline namespace and inherit that account's RBAC permissions. When a privileged ServiceAccount is reachable, the attacker can exfiltrate secrets such as database credentials, API keys, and TLS certificates and may take over the cluster. This issue is fixed in version 3.16.0.

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-qf34-295c-26v8 Woodpecker: Privilege escalation via unrestricted serviceAccountName in the Kubernetes backend
Fixes

Solution

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Workaround

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History

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 16:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Woodpecker is a CI/CD engine. From 1.0.0 until 3.16.0, pipeline/backend/kubernetes/backend_options.go defines backend_options.kubernetes.serviceAccountName, and the Kubernetes backend in pipeline/backend/kubernetes/pod.go copies that pipeline-step value directly into the pod specification without administrator authorization. Any user with Push permission on a connected repository can therefore run pipeline pods under an arbitrary ServiceAccount in the pipeline namespace and inherit that account's RBAC permissions. When a privileged ServiceAccount is reachable, the attacker can exfiltrate secrets such as database credentials, API keys, and TLS certificates and may take over the cluster. This issue is fixed in version 3.16.0.
Title Woodpecker: Privilege escalation via unrestricted serviceAccountName in the Kubernetes backend
Weaknesses CWE-269
CWE-862
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 9, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H'}


Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-09-15T15:19:38.584Z

Reserved: 2026-07-10T16:27:03.094Z

Link: CVE-2026-61549

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-09-15T15:19:35.499Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-09-15T15:17:20.110

Modified: 2026-09-15T16:17:18.490

Link: CVE-2026-61549

cve-icon Redhat

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cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

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Weaknesses