VNX-GH-101: Action or reusable workflow not pinned to a commit SHA

uses: references a branch or tag, which the action's owner (or anyone who compromises them) can move.

Updated 02 Nov 2026Checked against cli@24498404a, vdb-sca-match@v0.8.14

Tags and branches are mutable. When an action repository is compromised, the attacker re-points existing tags at malicious code and every workflow referencing them runs it on its next execution, as happened in widely used actions. A full 40-character SHA is the only immutable reference.


Severity	Medium
Confidence	high
CWE	CWE-829, CWE-494
Command	`vulnetix gha actions`, `vulnetix gha audit`
Uses, when available	action refs, actions policy, repo, to rate each finding against the repository’s own configuration.
Mappings	T1195.001

Remediation

Pin to the full commit SHA and keep the version in a trailing comment (uses: owner/repo@ # v1.2.3); let Dependabot or Renovate update both.

Run only this rule

vulnetix gha actions --rule VNX-GH-101

Scoring

CWSS vector at the rule’s default severity: CWSS:1.0/TI:H/AP:A/AL:A/IC:N/FC:LT/RP:N/RL:A/AV:I/AS:N/IN:A/SC:A/BI:H/DI:H/EX:L/EC:N/P:W. A finding whose severity the repository’s settings moved is scored at its adjusted severity.

All rules: GitHub rules.

Edit this pageSources: vdb-sca-match/ghaudit/rules_actions.go, cli/internal/ghtasks/docs.go