CVE-2024-21652: Argo CD vulnerable to Bypassing of Brute Force Protection via Application Crash and In-Memory Data Loss

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.8% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2024-03-18 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-307

Description

Argo CD is a declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. Prior to versions 2.8.13, 2.9.9, and 2.10.4, an attacker can exploit a chain of vulnerabilities, including a Denial of Service (DoS) flaw and in-memory data storage weakness, to effectively bypass the application's brute force login protection. This is a critical security vulnerability that allows attackers to bypass the brute force login protection mechanism. Not only can they crash the service affecting all users, but they can also make unlimited login attempts, increasing the risk of account compromise. Versions 2.8.13, 2.9.9, and 2.10.4 contain a patch for this issue.

Affected products

argoproj argo-cd: before 2.8.13; from 2.9.0 before 2.9.9; from 2.10.0 before 2.10.4 — fixed in 2.10.4, 2.8.13, 2.9.9

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: argoproj argo-cd 2.10.4, 2.8.13, 2.9.9. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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