IRONSMITHINTEL
HIGHCVSS8.8
|
Actively Exploited
|CISA KEV|CVE-2026-33634|Auth: low — authenticated user|Reboot: required|Manual only

Aquasecurity Trivy Embedded Malicious Code Vulnerability

Aquasecurity Trivy contains an embedded malicious code vulnerability that could allow an attacker to gain access to everything in the CI/CD environment, including all tokens, SSH keys, cloud credentials, database passwords, and any sensitive configuration in memory.

Published Mar 23, 2026 · Updated May 16, 2026
Why patchRisk explained in plain English
Worst-case scenarioIf unpatched

A remote attacker, with a low-privilege account, can achieve full data confidentiality loss, arbitrary modification of data, complete denial of service or system unavailability. Federal agencies are required to remediate by 2026-04-09 under CISA BOD 22-01.

How the attack worksNo clicks needed

This is a Software Vulnerability (CWE-506) (CWE-506) vulnerability in Aquasecurity Trivy. Trivy is a security scanner. On March 19, 2026, a threat actor used compromised credentials to publish a malicious Trivy v0.69.4 release, force-push 76 of 77 version tags in `aquasecurity/trivy-action` to credential-stealing malware, and replace all 7 tags in `aquasecurity/setup-trivy` with malicious commits. This incident is a continuation of the supply chain attack that began in late February 2026. Following the initial disclosure on March 1, credential rotation was performed but was not atomic (not all credentials were revoked simultaneously). The attacker could have use a valid token to exfiltrate newly rotated secrets during the rotation window (which lasted a few days). This could have allowed the attacker to retain access and execute the March 19 attack. Affected components include the `aquasecurity/trivy` Go / Container image version 0.69.4, the `aquasecurity/trivy-action` GitHub Action versions 0.0.1 – 0.34.2 (76/77), and the`aquasecurity/setup-trivy` GitHub Action versions 0.2.0 – 0.2.6, prior to the recreation of 0.2.6 with a safe commit. Known safe versions include versions 0.69.2 and 0.69.3 of the Trivy binary, version 0.35.0 of trivy-action, and version 0.2.6 of setup-trivy. Additionally, take other mitigations to ensure the safety of secrets. If there is any possibility that a compromised version ran in one's environment, all secrets accessible to affected pipelines must be treated as exposed and rotated immediately. Check whether one's organization pulled or executed Trivy v0.69.4 from any source. Remove any affected artifacts immediately. Review all workflows using `aquasecurity/trivy-action` or `aquasecurity/setup-trivy`. Those who referenced a version tag rather than a full commit SHA should check workflow run logs from March 19–20, 2026 for signs of compromise. Look for repositories named `tpcp-docs` in one's GitHub organization. The presence of such a repository may indicate that the fallback exfiltration mechanism was triggered and secrets were successfully stolen. Pin GitHub Actions to full, immutable commit SHA hashes, don't use mutable version tags. Exploitation requires remote network access, low attack complexity, a low-privilege authenticated account, and no user interaction required.

Am I affected?Quick check

Probably yes if any of these apply:

IT Security
Running setup-trivy: v < 0.2.6; trivy: 0.69.4; trivy action: v < 0.35.0; litellm: 1.82.7, 1.82.8; telnyx: 4.87.1, 4.87.2
Real-world incidentsWhat we've seen

Active exploitation documented in the wild. Threat-research write-up: https://github.com/aquasecurity/trivy/security/advisories/GHSA-69fq-xp46-6x23

How to patch

Manual remediation steps

Apply the Vendor Patch

This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog — apply the vendor's security update as soon as possible.

CISA required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

References

    1
    Vendor advisory: https://github.com/aquasecurity/trivy/discussions/10425
    1
    NVD entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-33634
    1
    CISA KEV: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-33634
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