GitHub has taken proactive measures to address a security vulnerability identified on December 26, 2023, rotating keys to prevent potential exploitation that could compromise credentials within a production container. The rotated keys include the GitHub commit signing key, GitHub Actions, GitHub Codespaces, and Dependabot customer encryption keys. GitHub, a Microsoft-owned subsidiary, swiftly responded to the issue on the same day it was reported, demonstrating a commitment to security. While there is no evidence of the high-severity vulnerability (CVE-2024-0200) being exploited in the wild, GitHub emphasizes the importance of users importing the new keys to ensure the continued security of their services.
The identified vulnerability also extends to GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES), where exploitation requires an authenticated user with an organization owner role to be logged into an account on the GHES instance, adding a significant set of mitigating circumstances. GitHub characterizes this as a case of “unsafe reflection” in GHES, leading to reflection injection and remote code execution. The patch for this vulnerability has been implemented in GHES versions 3.8.13, 3.9.8, 3.10.5, and 3.11.3. Additionally, GitHub addressed another high-severity bug (CVE-2024-0507) that could allow an attacker with access to a Management Console user account with the editor role to escalate privileges through command injection.
This development comes almost a year after GitHub replaced its RSA SSH host key, securing Git operations “out of an abundance of caution” after a brief exposure in a public repository. GitHub’s commitment to promptly addressing security concerns and implementing necessary patches underscores the importance of maintaining a proactive and vigilant stance in the face of evolving cyber threats.
