Harden-Runner is a CI/CD security agent that works like an EDR for GitHub Actions runners. In versions 2.15.1 and below, the Harden-Runner that allows bypass of the egress-policy: block network restriction using DNS queries over TCP. Egress policies are enforced on GitHub runners by filtering outbound connections at the network layer. When egress-policy: block is enabled with a restrictive allowed-endpoints list (e.g., only github.com:443), all non-compliant traffic should be denied. However, DNS queries over TCP, commonly used for large responses or fallback from UDP, are not adequately restricted. Tools like dig can explicitly initiate TCP-based DNS queries (+tcp flag) without being blocked. This vulnerability requires the attacker to already have code execution capabilities within the GitHub Actions workflow. The issue has been fixed in version 2.16.0.
https://github.com/step-security/harden-runner/security/advisories/GHSA-g699-3x6g-wm3g
https://github.com/step-security/harden-runner/releases/tag/v2.16.0
Published: 2026-03-20
Updated: 2026-03-24
Base Score: 3.3
Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:M/C:P/I:N/A:N
Severity: Low
Base Score: 2.7
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Severity: Low
Base Score: 4.6
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N
Severity: Medium
EPSS: 0.00076