CVE-2026-88884
Description
A flaw was found in Renovate, a dependency update automation tool. This vulnerability allows for the bypass of the minimumReleaseAge security control when processing digest updates. A remote attacker could exploit this by publishing a malicious dependency version, which Renovate would then prematurely propose in a pull request, potentially leading to the execution of untrusted code in continuous integration (CI) workflows before stability checks are complete. This undermines the intended protection against unstable or malicious dependency introductions.
Statement
This Moderate impact flaw in Renovate, as used in Red Hat Konflux's mintmaker-renovate-image, allows digest updates to bypass configured minimumReleaseAge checks. This circumvents a critical security control, potentially leading to automated pull requests and CI workflow execution for newly published, unvetted, or malicious dependency versions before their stability age has elapsed. The impact is limited to environments where minimumReleaseAge is configured and digest updates are in use.
Mitigation
To mitigate this issue, disable digest updates or gate them behind `dependencyDashboardApproval` in your Renovate configuration. This prevents the automatic processing of new digests before the `minimumReleaseAge` checks are applied.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality,Access Control,Availability,Other
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism; Gain Privileges or Assume Identity; Varies by Context
Attackers can bypass the security decision to access whatever is being protected. The consequences will depend on the associated functionality, but they can range from granting additional privileges to untrusted users to bypassing important security checks. Ultimately, this weakness may lead to exposure or modification of sensitive data, system crash, or execution of arbitrary code.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure what something means? Check out our Security Glossary.
Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.
