Critical · CVSS 9.9CVE-2026-53942

Conda Organization Infrastructure: Pwn Request in update workflow allows PR-controlled template rendering with SYNC_TOKENCVE-2026-53942

Answer in brief

CVE-2026-53942 records a Critical severity (CVSS 9.9) vulnerability in Conda Organization Infrastructure: Pwn Request in update workflow allows PR-controlled template rendering with SYNC_TOKEN. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps conda/infrastructure (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Analysis pending evidence review

HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.

Published Oct 23, 2026Updated Oct 23, 2026Source checked Oct 23, 2026First seen by HOL Oct 23, 2026Material review Oct 23, 2026

Upstream Advisory

Key facts

Risk: Critical · CVSS 9.9
Exploitation: Not marked as known exploited
Affected software: 1 mapped package or product
Fix availability: Available

Why this deserves its current priority

CVSS is 9.9. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.

Analysis status

Analysis pending evidence review

Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.

Affected scope and exposure questions

The current feed maps conda/infrastructure (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Mapped affected packages and fixed versions
Package	Affected range	Fixed version
conda/infrastructuregeneric	<9c0f23857282ff5cf7a6b3ad6bf0dd6f9974be55	9c0f23857282ff5cf7a6b3ad6bf0dd6f9974be55

Recommended response

Check inventory. Check lockfiles and deployed manifests for conda/infrastructure.
Review the reported fix. Update conda/infrastructure to 9c0f23857282ff5cf7a6b3ad6bf0dd6f9974be55 if you use the affected versions. Test the change in a non-production environment first.

Evidence timeline and material changes

Published upstream
Oct 23, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
Source modified
Oct 23, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
First seen by HOL
Oct 23, 2026

Sources and claim methodology

Upstream source description

Conda Organization Infrastructure is a centralized location for infrastructure codes. Prior to commit 9c0f238, a GitHub Actions Pwn Request vulnerability appears to remain present in conda/conda. The affected workflow is .github/workflows/update.yml. It is triggered by issue_comment events containing @conda-bot render or @conda-bot recreate. For the render path, the workflow obtains the pull request head repository and branch from the PR API, checks out that PR-controlled repository/ref using secrets.SYNC_TOKEN, and then runs conda/actions/template-files@7f6830b1428a9bd47f0b068892c77eae95207037. The external template-files action reads its default configuration and templates from the checked-out working directory. In the confirmed finding, that action uses an unsandboxed Jinja2 environment to render attacker-controlled template content. This creates a Pwn Request chain in which an untrusted PR/comment path can reach template rendering in a privileged token context. This issue has been patched via commit 9c0f238.

Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.