What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2024-53859: go-gh `auth.TokenForHost` violates GitHub host security boundary within a codespace

• Severity: high (CVSS 7.5 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2024-11-27 · updated 2026-06-17
• Weakness: CWE-200

Description

go-gh is a Go module for interacting with the `gh` utility and the GitHub API from the command line. A security vulnerability has been identified in `go-gh` that could leak authentication tokens intended for GitHub hosts to non-GitHub hosts when within a codespace. `go-gh` sources authentication tokens from different environment variables depending on the host involved: 1. `GITHUB_TOKEN`, `GH_TOKEN` for GitHub.com and ghe.com and 2. `GITHUB_ENTERPRISE_TOKEN`, `GH_ENTERPRISE_TOKEN` for GitHub Enterprise Server. Prior to version `2.11.1`, `auth.TokenForHost` could source a token from the `GITHUB_TOKEN` environment variable for a host other than GitHub.com or ghe.com when within a codespace. In version `2.11.1`, `auth.TokenForHost` will only source a token from the `GITHUB_TOKEN` environment variable for GitHub.com or ghe.com hosts. Successful exploitation could send authentication token to an unintended host. This issue has been addressed in version 2.11.1 and all users are advised to upgrade. Users are also advised to regenerate authentication tokens and to review their personal security log and any relevant audit logs for actions associated with their account or enterprise.

Affected products

• cli go-gh: before 2.11.1 — fixed in 2.11.1

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: cli go-gh 2.11.1. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://docs.github.com/en/apps/using-github-apps/reviewing-and-revoking-authorization-of-github-apps#reviewing-your-authorized-github-apps
• https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/keeping-your-account-and-data-secure/reviewing-your-security-log
• https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/admin/monitoring-activity-in-your-enterprise/reviewing-audit-logs-for-your-enterprise/identifying-audit-log-events-performed-by-an-access-token
• https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/authentication/keeping-your-account-and-data-secure/managing-your-personal-access-tokens
• https://github.com/cli/go-gh/blob/71770357e0cb12867d3e3e288854c0aa09d440b7/pkg/auth/auth.go#L73-L77
• https://github.com/cli/go-gh/security/advisories/GHSA-55v3-xh23-96gh

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