CVE-2021-22862Improper access control in GitHub Enterprise Server leading to the disclosure of Actions secrets to forks
- 6.5MediumCVSS base score
- 0.84%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 42% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
An improper access control vulnerability was identified in GitHub Enterprise Server that allowed an authenticated user with the ability to fork a repository to disclose Actions secrets for the parent repository of the fork. This vulnerability existed due to a flaw that allowed the base reference of a pull request to be updated to point to an arbitrary SHA or another pull request outside of the fork repository. By establishing this incorrect reference in a PR, the restrictions that limit the Actions secrets sent a workflow from forks could be bypassed. This vulnerability affected GitHub Enterprise Server version 3.0.0, 3.0.0.rc2, and 3.0.0.rc1. This vulnerability was reported via the GitHub Bug Bounty program.
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_P
- 56 days later
· 56 days later
Published
- 3 years later
· 3 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | Medium6.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.84% · top 42% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 6.5.
Affected products
GitHub · GitHub Enterprise Server
- affected 3.0 – < 3.0.1
References
References1
- https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server%403.0/admin/release-notes#3.0.1 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2021-9997 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2021-22862)Record last updated .