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Medium · 6.8 Public exploit CVE-2021-21423 EUVD-2021-0202GHSA-gg2g-m5wc-vccqPYSEC-2021-111

Exposure of Version-Control Repository to an Unauthorized Control Sphere in projen

Published Apr 6, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024 · Assigned by GitHub_M

Description

`projen` is a project generation tool that synthesizes project configuration files such as `package.json`, `tsconfig.json`, `.gitignore`, GitHub Workflows, `eslint`, `jest`, and more, from a well-typed definition written in JavaScript. Users of projen's `NodeProject` project type (including any project type derived from it) include a `.github/workflows/rebuild-bot.yml` workflow that may allow any GitHub user to trigger execution of un-trusted code in the context of the "main" repository (as opposed to that of a fork). In some situations, such untrusted code may potentially be able to commit to the "main" repository. The rebuild-bot workflow is triggered by comments including `@projen rebuild` on pull-request to trigger a re-build of the projen project, and updating the pull request with the updated files. This workflow is triggered by an `issue_comment` event, and thus always executes with a `GITHUB_TOKEN` belonging to the repository into which the pull-request is made (this is in contrast with workflows triggered by `pull_request` events, which always execute with a `GITHUB_TOKEN` belonging to the repository from which the pull-request is made). Repositories that do not have branch protection configured on their default branch (typically `main` or `master`) could possibly allow an untrusted user to gain access to secrets configured on the repository (such as NPM tokens, etc). Branch protection prohibits this escalation, as the managed `GITHUB_TOKEN` would not be able to modify the contents of a protected branch and affected workflows must be defined on the default branch.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
projen projen >= 0.6.0, < 0.16.41 —

Public exploits

Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.

Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.

GitHub 1 repository

  • pvharmo2/gha-lab-b9842b12c0 ★ 0 · Aug 31, 2026

    Authorized security-research lab reproducing CVE-2021-21423 (GHSA-gg2g-m5wc-vccq): projen rebuild-bot pwn request via issue_comment

Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.

Affected packages

EcosystemPackageAffectedFixedRecord
npm projen >= 0.6.0, < 0.16.41 0.16.41 GHSA-gg2g-m5wc-vccq
PyPI projen < 0.16.41 0.16.41 GHSA-gg2g-m5wc-vccq

References