Checkov by Prisma Cloud CVE-2026-0303

Exploitation requires that a Checkov scan be executed against a directory that contains at least one attacker-controlled IaC configuration file (e.g., Terraform .tf, Kubernetes YAML, CloudFormation template, Dockerfile). The attacker must be able to place or influence a file in the scanned directory - achievable via pull requests to shared repositories, dependency confusion, or direct filesystem access in shared environments. The victim (human developer or CI/CD automation) must initiate a Checkov scan against that directory (UI:P - passive interaction). No authentication to the victim system is required of the attacker. Exploitation is limited to scenarios where Checkov processes untrusted file content; scans of internally authored, access-controlled IaC are not affected. The vulnerable system's direct impact is low (VI:L only), but subsequent CI/CD systems with cloud credentials mounted are exposed to full compromise (SC:H/SI:H/SA:H).

The provided CVSS 4.0 base score of 2.4 appears to incorporate threat metrics (E:U - no known exploits) and supplemental factors (AU:N - not automatable) that substantially deflate the number; the underlying base vector metrics, particularly SC:H/SI:H/SA:H, represent a critical-severity impact on CI/CD pipeline systems. Real-world risk is better understood as a targeted supply-chain attack: an adversary who can introduce a malicious IaC file into a repository that a victim's Checkov scan will process (e.g., via a pull request to an open-source project, a dependency confusion attack, or a compromised dependency) can achieve code execution within the CI/CD runner. The privilege escalation path from 'attacker can submit a file' to 'attacker compromises cloud infrastructure' is realistic in DevSecOps environments. No public exploit has been identified (E:U) and Palo Alto rates this as 'Amber' urgency. EPSS data is not provided; KEV status is negative. Despite the low numeric score, any organization running Checkov against untrusted or community-sourced IaC content in an automated pipeline should treat this as elevated risk. No fix version is specified in the available data - only the advisory reference is confirmed.

An attacker submits a pull request to an open-source infrastructure repository, embedding a malicious Terraform or Kubernetes manifest designed to trigger CWE-829 code inclusion when processed by Checkov. The target organization's CI/CD pipeline automatically runs checkov -d . on the PR diff, causing the attacker's payload to execute within the CI/CD runner - which holds AWS/GCP/Azure credentials - enabling exfiltration of cloud secrets or persistent access. No public exploit code has been identified, but the attack requires only the ability to introduce a file into a scanned directory, which is achievable through normal pull-request workflows.