CVE-2025-30066

Remediation/Mitigation Strategy for CVE-2025-30066 - tj-actions/changed-files GitHub Action Embedded Malicious Code Vulnerability

This document outlines the vulnerability, its severity, known exploits, and recommended remediation/mitigation steps for CVE-2025-30066.

1. Vulnerability Description:

  • CVE ID: CVE-2025-30066
  • Component: tj-actions/changed-files GitHub Action (versions v1 through v45.0.7)
  • Description: The tj-actions/changed-files GitHub Action, within the specified versions, was compromised. A threat actor modified the tags to point to a malicious commit (0e58ed8) containing malicious code. This allowed remote attackers to potentially discover secrets by reading GitHub Actions workflow logs.
  • Attack Vector: Remote attacker reading GitHub Actions workflow logs.
  • Root Cause: Compromised GitHub Action tags.

2. Severity:

  • CVSS Score: 8.6 (High)
    • Base Score: 8.6
    • Impact Subscore: 3.9
    • Exploitability Subscore: 4.0
  • Severity Level: High

3. Known Exploits:

  • The vulnerability allows attackers to potentially steal secrets stored or used within GitHub Actions workflows. These secrets might include:
    • AWS Access Keys
    • GitHub Personal Access Tokens (PATs)
    • npm tokens
    • Other sensitive credentials
  • The malicious code within the compromised versions exfiltrates sensitive information exposed in the workflow logs. This gives attackers direct access to these secrets.

4. Remediation/Mitigation Strategy:

This strategy follows a tiered approach, prioritizing immediate actions and then focusing on long-term security improvements.

  • A. Immediate Actions (Critical):

    1. Verify Action Usage: Immediately check all your GitHub Actions workflows to see if they use the tj-actions/changed-files action, specifically versions v1 through v45.0.7.
    2. Remove or Replace Vulnerable Actions:
      • If the action is not critical, immediately remove it from your workflows.
      • If the action is required, replace the vulnerable version with a secure version. According to the vendor, versions 46 and later are considered secure. Update the uses: statement in your workflow files to use the latest stable version: uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v47 # Or later version 3. Revoke Compromised Credentials: Immediately revoke and regenerate any credentials that may have been exposed in the workflow logs of affected workflows. This includes:
      • AWS Access Keys: Revoke and rotate all potentially compromised AWS keys. Implement temporary credentials (STS) where possible to limit blast radius.
      • GitHub PATs: Revoke any PATs used in the workflows. Audit PAT usage and consider using fine-grained PATs.
      • npm Tokens: Revoke and regenerate any npm tokens. Consider using more restrictive scopes for npm tokens.
      • Other Sensitive Credentials: Review logs for any other secrets that may have been printed and rotate them accordingly.
    3. Review GitHub Actions Logs: Thoroughly review GitHub Actions logs for the affected workflows, looking for any signs of unauthorized access or data exfiltration attempts. Pay attention to any unusual activity or network requests.
    4. Audit GitHub Organization: Audit your GitHub organization’s settings, including permissions, access controls, and installed applications, to identify any other potential vulnerabilities.

  • B. Medium-Term Actions (Important):

    1. Implement Secret Scanning: Enable secret scanning on your GitHub repositories and organization to detect and prevent the accidental exposure of secrets in code.
    2. Improve Workflow Security:
      • Avoid printing secrets to logs: Redesign workflows to minimize or eliminate the need to print secrets to logs. Use secure methods for accessing secrets, such as GitHub Secrets.
      • Use pull request reviews: Implement pull request reviews for all code changes, including changes to workflows. This helps to catch potential vulnerabilities before they are deployed.
      • Implement Branch Protection: Use branch protection rules to prevent direct pushes to your main branch and require code reviews.
      • Principle of Least Privilege: Grant only the necessary permissions to GitHub Actions and users.
    3. Monitor GitHub Audit Logs: Regularly monitor GitHub audit logs for any suspicious activity, such as unauthorized access attempts or changes to critical settings.
    4. Vendor Communication: Maintain communication with the vendor (tj-actions) to stay informed about any updates or further mitigation steps. Monitor their GitHub repository for announcements.

  • C. Long-Term Actions (Recommended):

    1. Supply Chain Security Assessment: Conduct a thorough security assessment of your software supply chain, including all dependencies and third-party components.
    2. Dependency Pinning/Locking: Implement dependency pinning or locking to ensure that you are using specific versions of your dependencies. This helps to prevent the introduction of vulnerable code through automatic updates. Consider using tools like Dependabot.
    3. Vulnerability Scanning: Integrate vulnerability scanning into your CI/CD pipeline to automatically identify and report vulnerabilities in your code and dependencies. Tools like Snyk, SonarQube, or GitHub Advanced Security can be helpful.
    4. Security Training: Provide security training to your developers and operations teams to raise awareness of common vulnerabilities and secure coding practices.
    5. Incident Response Plan: Develop and maintain an incident response plan to address security incidents quickly and effectively.

5. References:

6. Monitoring and Review:

  • Continuously monitor your systems for any signs of compromise or unauthorized access.
  • Regularly review and update this remediation strategy as needed to reflect changes in the threat landscape and the evolving security posture of your organization.

This remediation/mitigation strategy is a starting point and should be adapted to the specific needs and context of your organization. It is crucial to prioritize immediate actions and to continuously monitor and review your security posture.

Assigner

Date

  • Published Date: 2025-03-15 00:00:00
  • Updated Date: 2025-03-19 20:26:05

More Details

CVE-2025-30066