Harden-Runner is a CI/CD security agent that works like an EDR for GitHub Actions runners. In versions 2.15.1 and below, the Harden-Runner that allows bypass of the egress-policy: block network restriction using DNS queries over TCP. Egress policies are enforced on GitHub runners by filtering outbound connections at the network layer. When egress-policy: block is enabled with a restrictive allowed-endpoints list (e.g., only github.com:443), all non-compliant traffic should be denied. However, DNS queries over TCP, commonly used for large responses or fallback from UDP, are not adequately restricted. Tools like dig can explicitly initiate TCP-based DNS queries (+tcp flag) without being blocked. This vulnerability requires the attacker to already have code execution capabilities within the GitHub Actions workflow. The issue has been fixed in version 2.16.0.
Advisories
| Source | ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
Github GHSA |
GHSA-g699-3x6g-wm3g | Egress Policy Bypass via DNS over TCP in Harden-Runner (Community Tier) |
Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Fri, 20 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| First Time appeared |
Step Security
Step Security harden Runner |
|
| Vendors & Products |
Step Security
Step Security harden Runner |
Fri, 20 Mar 2026 04:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Harden-Runner is a CI/CD security agent that works like an EDR for GitHub Actions runners. In versions 2.15.1 and below, the Harden-Runner that allows bypass of the egress-policy: block network restriction using DNS queries over TCP. Egress policies are enforced on GitHub runners by filtering outbound connections at the network layer. When egress-policy: block is enabled with a restrictive allowed-endpoints list (e.g., only github.com:443), all non-compliant traffic should be denied. However, DNS queries over TCP, commonly used for large responses or fallback from UDP, are not adequately restricted. Tools like dig can explicitly initiate TCP-based DNS queries (+tcp flag) without being blocked. This vulnerability requires the attacker to already have code execution capabilities within the GitHub Actions workflow. The issue has been fixed in version 2.16.0. | |
| Title | Egress Policy Bypass via DNS over TCP in Harden-Runner (Community Tier) | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-693 CWE-863 |
|
| References |
| |
| Metrics |
cvssV4_0
|
Projects
Sign in to view the affected projects.
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: GitHub_M
Published:
Updated: 2026-03-20T03:58:40.557Z
Reserved: 2026-03-17T00:05:53.284Z
Link: CVE-2026-32946
No data.
Status : Received
Published: 2026-03-20T04:16:50.107
Modified: 2026-03-20T04:16:50.107
Link: CVE-2026-32946
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-03-20T10:37:25Z
Github GHSA