CVE-2023-49291

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

This critical-severity CVE scores 9.8 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 1.4%, top 29% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).

Triggered by: NVD CVSS baseline
Sources: epss, nvd
9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 1%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: None knownExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

tj-actions/branch-names is a Github action to retrieve branch or tag names with support for all events. The tj-actions/branch-names GitHub Actions improperly references the github.event.pull_request.head.ref and github.head_ref context variables within a GitHub Actions run step. The head ref variable is the branch name and can be used to execute arbitrary code using a specially crafted branch name. As a result an attacker can use this vulnerability to steal secrets from or abuse GITHUB_TOKEN permissions. This vulnerability has been addressed in version 7.0.7. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
EG Risk
49(Track)
EG Risk 49/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity98% × 45%
Exploitation1% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
1%
EPSS %ILE
71%
KEV
Not listed

Published

December 5, 2023

Last Modified

June 17, 2026

Advisory Details (5)

Auto-updated Aug 3, 2026
Patch available. Sources: github_commit, github.
generic

Redirecting…

https://securitylab.github.com/research/github-actions-untrusted-input
github Patch Available

Improper Sanitization of Branch Name Leads to Arbitrary Code Injection · Advisory · tj-actions/branch-names · GitHub

https://github.com/tj-actions/branch-names/security/advisories/GHSA-8v8w-v8xg-79rf
github_commit Patch Available

commit 726fe9ba5e9d (tj-actions/branch-names)

Patch available: tj-actions/branch-names v7.0.7 (contains commit 726fe9ba5e9d)

https://github.com/tj-actions/branch-names/commit/726fe9ba5e9da4fcc716223b7994ffd0358af060
github_commit Patch Available

commit 6c999acf206f (tj-actions/branch-names)

Patch available: tj-actions/branch-names v7.0.7 (contains commit 6c999acf206f)

https://github.com/tj-actions/branch-names/commit/6c999acf206f5561e19f46301bb310e9e70d8815
github_commit Patch Available

commit 4923d1ca41f9 (tj-actions/branch-names)

Patch available: tj-actions/branch-names v7.0.7 (contains commit 4923d1ca41f9)

https://github.com/tj-actions/branch-names/commit/4923d1ca41f928c24f1c1b3af9daaadfb71e6337

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 10× in last 7d / 46× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 123 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-08-07 16:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-08-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-08-05 19:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-08-04 15:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-08-04 10:35 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-08-03 10:34 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-08-03 10:34 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-08-02 02:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-08-02 02:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-08-01 19:06 UTCOSV refresh
  11. 2026-08-01 04:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-30 16:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-07-30 16:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-07-30 01:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-07-28 15:34 UTCEPSS rescore
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  17. 2026-07-27 14:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-07-26 14:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-07-25 14:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-07-24 14:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-07-24 14:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-07-23 14:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-07-23 02:28 UTCEG score recompute
  24. 2026-07-22 23:15 UTCEG score recompute▲ 0.50
  25. 2026-07-22 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore
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  1. 2026-07-21 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-21 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-20 17:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-19 14:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-19 14:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-19 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-18 10:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-18 10:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-16 17:01 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-15 16:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-07-15 16:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-15 02:19 UTCOSV refresh
  13. 2026-07-15 01:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-07-15 01:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-07-13 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-07-13 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-07-13 06:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-07-13 06:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-07-12 05:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-07-11 08:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-07-09 19:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-07-08 15:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-07-07 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-07-07 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-07-06 16:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-07-06 16:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-07-06 02:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-07-05 02:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-07-04 06:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-07-04 06:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-07-02 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-07-01 15:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-06-30 23:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-06-30 23:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-06-29 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-06-28 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-06-28 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-06-28 04:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-06-27 03:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-06-27 03:07 UTCOSV refresh
  41. 2026-06-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-06-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-06-24 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-06-24 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-06-24 06:32 UTCNVD updateCVSS v3 → 9.8
  46. 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-06-22 14:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-06-22 14:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-06-21 14:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  51. 2026-06-21 14:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  52. 2026-06-21 01:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  53. 2026-06-21 01:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-06-19 19:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  55. 2026-06-19 19:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  56. 2026-06-18 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  57. 2026-06-17 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  58. 2026-06-16 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  59. 2026-06-16 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  60. 2026-06-15 17:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  61. 2026-06-14 23:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  62. 2026-06-13 22:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  63. 2026-06-13 22:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  64. 2026-06-12 23:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  65. 2026-06-12 23:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  66. 2026-06-11 13:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  67. 2026-06-10 22:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  68. 2026-06-10 13:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  69. 2026-06-09 13:47 UTCOSV refresh
  70. 2026-06-08 14:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  71. 2026-06-08 14:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  72. 2026-06-07 15:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  73. 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  74. 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  75. 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore

Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2023-49291?
CVE-2023-49291 is a critical vulnerability published on December 5, 2023. tj-actions/branch-names is a Github action to retrieve branch or tag names with support for all events. The tj-actions/branch-names GitHub Actions improperly references the github.event.pullrequest.head.ref and github.headref context variables within a GitHub Actions run step. The head ref variable…
When was CVE-2023-49291 disclosed?
CVE-2023-49291 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on December 5, 2023, with the most recent update on June 17, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2023-49291 actively exploited?
CVE-2023-49291 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 29.2% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-49291?
CVE-2023-49291 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2023-49291?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2023-49291, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

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