What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2023-27581: github-slug-action vulnerable to arbitrary code execution

• Severity: high (CVSS 8.8 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 1.6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: yes
• Published: 2023-03-13 · updated 2026-06-17
• Weakness: CWE-77

Description

github-slug-action is a GitHub Action to expose slug value of GitHub environment variables inside of one's GitHub workflow. Starting in version 4.0.0` and prior to version 4.4.1, this action uses the `github.head_ref` parameter in an insecure way. This vulnerability can be triggered by any user on GitHub on any workflow using the action on pull requests. They just need to create a pull request with a branch name, which can contain the attack payload. This can be used to execute code on the GitHub runners and to exfiltrate any secrets one uses in the CI pipeline. A patched action is available in version 4.4.1. No workaround is available.

Affected products

• rlespinasse github-slug-action: from 4.0.0 before 4.4.1 — fixed in 4.4.1

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: rlespinasse github-slug-action 4.4.1. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://github.com/rlespinasse/github-slug-action/commit/102b1a064a9b145e56556e22b18b19c624538d94
• https://github.com/rlespinasse/github-slug-action/releases/tag/v4.4.1
• https://github.com/rlespinasse/github-slug-action/security/advisories/GHSA-6q4m-7476-932w
• https://securitylab.github.com/research/github-actions-untrusted-input/
• https://github.com/rlespinasse/github-slug-action/commit/102b1a064a9b145e56556e22b18b19c624538d94
• https://github.com/rlespinasse/github-slug-action/releases/tag/v4.4.1
• https://github.com/rlespinasse/github-slug-action/security/advisories/GHSA-6q4m-7476-932w
• https://securitylab.github.com/research/github-actions-untrusted-input/

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