Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessIdentify vulnerable Renovate deployment (42.68.1-42.96.3 or 43.0.0-43.4.4)
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DeliveryInject malicious code via postUpgradeTasks config or compromised npm dependency postinstall
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ExploitRenovate spawns child process with unrestricted env inheritance
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ExecutionChild process reads full environment including privileged credentials
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ImpactExfiltrate secrets to attacker-controlled infrastructure
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A02:2025 - Security Misconfiguration
ASVS 5.0
V13 - Configuration Environment variable protection
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires three conditions: (1) a Renovate instance running a vulnerable version (npm package >= 42.68.1 and < 42.96.3, or >= 43.0.0 and < 43.4.4); (2) the ability to influence code that Renovate executes as a child process - via write access to a repository's Renovate configuration (postUpgradeTasks, postUpdateOptions) for an insider attack, or via a compromised npm dependency with a postinstall hook for an outsider/supply-chain attack; and (3) the presence of valuable secrets in the Renovate process environment (e.g., GitHub PATs, registry tokens, cloud credentials). Exploitation is limited by the local attack vector - the attacker cannot directly reach the environment variables remotely; they must cause Renovate to execute their code during a scheduled or triggered run. The CVSS PR:L reflects that repository write access (or equivalent) is sufficient. Default Renovate deployments that do not use postUpgradeTasks still expose secrets through npm install postinstall hooks of processed packages. |
| Impact | The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H) scores 6.8, reflecting local attack vector with low-privilege access and high confidentiality impact. The local vector (AV:L) is accurate: exploitation requires the ability to influence code that Renovate executes - either through repository-level configuration (postUpgradeTasks) or via a compromised npm dependency. This is not remote unauthenticated exploitation, but the attack surface is meaningfully wide in practice because Renovate routinely processes external package ecosystems. The high confidentiality impact (VC:H) correctly captures the credential exfiltration risk: secrets accessible to Renovate deployments (GitHub PATs with broad repository access, npm publish tokens, cloud provider credentials) are high-value targets. EPSS data is not available in the provided intelligence. No KEV listing exists - active exploitation is not confirmed. However, the vendor's recommendation to proactively rotate all credentials implies a credible exploitation risk over the roughly three-month exposure window (2025-12-30 to patch release). Despite the moderate overall score, operational risk is elevated for organizations where Renovate runs with broad privileged credentials against repositories that execute external or attacker-influenceable code. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An outside attacker who has compromised an npm package processed by Renovate - or who can submit a malicious postinstall script via a dependency - could embed credential-harvesting code that reads environment variables (e.g., |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Aug 19, 2026
Environment variable exposure in Renovate (versions 42.68.1 through 42.96.3 and 43.0.0 through 43.4.4) leaks the full process environment - including privileged credentials - into every child process spawned during dependency update operations. The regression was introduced inadvertently on 2025-12-30 when Renovate migrated to the execa library, whose default behavior extends rather than replaces environment variables, silently bypassing Renovate's intended allowlist filtering. Both insider attackers (with repository write access) and outsider attackers (via supply-chain compromise of a processed dependency) can embed credential-harvesting code in scripts that Renovate executes, exfiltrating GitHub tokens, registry credentials, and cloud IAM keys accessible to the deployment. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, but the vendor explicitly recommends rotating all credentials that affected Renovate instances had access to.
RemediationAI
Upgrade Renovate to version 42.96.3 (for the 42.x branch) or 43.4.4 (for the 43.x branch) immediately; no workarounds exist other than upgrading the software. Docker deployments should upgrade renovate-ee-server and renovate-ee-worker to version 13.6.0 or later. Regardless of whether an upgrade can be applied immediately, the vendor strongly recommends rotating and revoking all credentials that the Renovate process had access to during the affected period, including GitHub Personal Access Tokens, npm publish tokens, registry authentication credentials, and cloud provider IAM keys. The full window of potential exposure begins 2025-12-30 (when version 42.68.1 was released). All remediation details are confirmed in the vendor advisory at https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/security/advisories/GHSA-8wc6-vgrq-x6cf.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in npm
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Technical ContextAI · show details
Renovate (cpe:2.3:a:renovatebot:renovate) is a Node.js-based automated dependency update tool that spawns child processes - including npm install, scripts defined in postUpgradeTasks, and postUpdateOptions hooks - as part of its normal operation. To prevent privileged credentials from leaking into untrusted code, Renovate maintains an environment variable allowlist and was designed to pass only approved variables to child processes. In version 42.68.1, a preparatory refactor migrated process spawning to the execa library (npm package). A key behavioral difference in execa is that it defaults to extending the parent process environment with any new variables (extendEnv: true), rather than replacing it. This default was not overridden, which silently removed the allowlist gate entirely. CWE-526 (Exposure of Sensitive Information Through Environmental Variables) precisely describes the root cause: secrets stored in the Renovate process environment - registry tokens, GitHub PATs, cloud credentials - became transparently inherited by all child processes, including those potentially running attacker-influenced code.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Attacker needs low-privilege code execution via Renovate child processes (AV:L, PR:L); high confidentiality loss from full credential exfiltration; no integrity or availability impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
1DescriptionCVE.org
Renovate versions from 42.68.1 before 42.96.3 (and from 42.68.1 before 43.4.4), including corresponding Docker images (renovate/renovate, mend/renovate-ce, renovate-ee-server, renovate-ee-worker >=13.3.0 <13.6.0), fail to restrict environment variables to an allowlist when spawning child processes. As a result, child processes (e.g. npm install, postUpgradeTasks, postUpdateOptions) gain full access to all environment variables of the Renovate process, allowing insider or outside attackers to exfiltrate secrets accessible to the Renovate deployment.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
Credential exfiltration in Renovate before 44.11.3 lets a malicious or compromised GitLab server steal the authenticatio
Credential exfiltration in Renovate (renovatebot/renovate) before 44.11.2 lets a malicious or compromised container regi
Credential exfiltration in Renovate before 44.11.2 (and Mend Renovate CE/EE images/charts before 15.4.0, enterprise-edit
Credential disclosure in Renovate before 44.11.3 allows a malicious or compromised GitHub server to exfiltrate host cred
Command injection in Renovate's Maven Wrapper manager allows an attacker with write access to a scanned repository to ex
Command injection in Renovate's hermit manager (versions 32.135.0 through 40.33.0) allows an attacker with repository wr
Command injection in Renovate's helmv3 manager (versions 31.51.0 through 40.32.x) allows repository contributors with wr
Command injection in Renovate's npm manager (versions 35.63.0 through 40.33.0) allows attackers with repository write ac
Command injection in Renovate's gleam manager (versions 39.53.0 through 40.33.0 exclusive) allows attackers with reposit
Command injection in Renovate's kustomize manager (versions 39.218.0 through 40.33.0) allows repository contributors wit
Command injection in Renovate's Gradle Wrapper update mechanism allows arbitrary code execution inside the Renovate runt
Command injection in Renovate's Gradle Wrapper manager module allows a repository contributor to execute arbitrary OS co
EUVD-2026-62468
GHSA-p44v-39mg-jgrj
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Exploit-DB