OpenTelemetry githubreceiver silently ignores configured required_headers authentication

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No collected risk observation for these identifiers. This does not establish absence of exploitation or a zero probability.

The OpenTelemetry Collector Contrib repository contains components for the OpenTelemetry Collector. Prior to 0.151.0, the githubreceiver validates the receiver/githubreceiver/config.go RequiredHeaders configuration at startup, but receiver/githubreceiver/trace_receiver.go handleReq() does not check those headers on incoming webhook requests. An unauthenticated sender can therefore bypass an operator's required_headers authentication control and submit arbitrary webhook payloads. When the Secret field is empty, github.ValidatePayload also skips HMAC validation, leaving the webhook endpoint without either configured authentication mechanism. Successful exploitation can inject fabricated CI/CD trace data into the observability pipeline. This issue is fixed in version 0.151.0.

Source published

15 Sep 2026 15:05:15 UTC

Source modified

17 Sep 2026 14:45:43 UTC

Observed here

23 Oct 2026 15:48:27 UTC

Source terms

CVE Program Terms of Use

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: cve-program · CVE Program Terms of Use. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS 4.0 · 6.9 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

The OpenTelemetry Collector Contrib repository contains components for the OpenTelemetry Collector. Prior to 0.151.0, the githubreceiver validates the receiver/githubreceiver/config.go RequiredHeaders configuration at startup, but receiver/githubreceiver/trace_receiver.go handleReq() does not check those headers on incoming webhook requests. An unauthenticated sender can therefore bypass an operator's required_headers authentication control and submit arbitrary webhook payloads. When the Secret field is empty, github.ValidatePayload also skips HMAC validation, leaving the webhook endpoint without either configured authentication mechanism. Successful exploitation can inject fabricated CI/CD trace data into the observability pipeline. This issue is fixed in version 0.151.0.

Source published

Sep 15, 2026, 3:05:15 PM (timezone not stated)

Source modified

Sep 17, 2026, 2:45:43 PM (timezone not stated)

Observed here

11 Nov 2026 14:04:20 UTC

Source terms

ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: euvd · ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

EUVD CVSS 4.0 · 6.9 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

The OpenTelemetry Collector Contrib repository contains components for the OpenTelemetry Collector. Prior to 0.151.0, the githubreceiver validates the receiver/githubreceiver/config.go RequiredHeaders configuration at startup, but receiver/githubreceiver/trace_receiver.go handleReq() does not check those headers on incoming webhook requests. An unauthenticated sender can therefore bypass an operator's required_headers authentication control and submit arbitrary webhook payloads. When the Secret field is empty, github.ValidatePayload also skips HMAC validation, leaving the webhook endpoint without either configured authentication mechanism. Successful exploitation can inject fabricated CI/CD trace data into the observability pipeline. This issue is fixed in version 0.151.0.

Source published

15 Sep 2026 16:17:15 UTC

Source modified

30 Sep 2026 17:43:24 UTC

Observed here

25 Oct 2026 14:19:05 UTC

Source terms

NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: nvd · NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS 4.0 · [email protected] · Secondary · 6.9 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

## githubreceiver Silently Ignores Configured required_headers Authentication ### Summary The githubreceiver webhook handler does not enforce the `required_headers` configuration. Headers are validated at startup (config rejects empty keys/values) but never checked on incoming requests. This follows the same pattern as [GHSA-prf6-xjxh-p698](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/security/advisories/GHSA-prf6-xjxh-p698) (awsfirehosereceiver auth bypass). Verified against current main. ### Details In `receiver/githubreceiver/config.go`, the `RequiredHeaders` field is defined (line 45) and validated at startup (lines 93-101). But `receiver/githubreceiver/trace_receiver.go` in `handleReq()` (lines 131-185) never references `RequiredHeaders`. The gitlabreceiver enforces the same config correctly at `receiver/gitlabreceiver/traces_receiver.go:266-270`: for key, value := range gtr.cfg.WebHook.RequiredHeaders { if r.Header.Get(key) != string(value) { return "", fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", errInvalidHeader, key) } } ### Amplifying factor The `Secret` field defaults to empty and has no validation requiring it to be set. With an empty secret, `github.ValidatePayload` skips HMAC validation entirely. An operator who configures `required_headers` as their authentication mechanism (without setting `secret`) has zero authentication on the webhook endpoint. ### Impact An attacker can send arbitrary webhook payloads to the githubreceiver endpoint, bypassing the operator configured authentication. This allows injecting fake CI/CD trace data into the observability pipeline. ### Suggested Fix Add RequiredHeaders enforcement to `handleReq()`, matching the gitlabreceiver pattern.

Source published

18 Jun 2026 15:05:14 UTC

Source modified

25 Jun 2026 23:11:38 UTC

Observed here

24 Oct 2026 13:19:41 UTC

Source terms

GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS_V4 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Publisher rating · MODERATE

opentelemetry-collector-contrib: githubreceiver silently ignores configured required_headers authentication in github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/githubreceiver

Source published

25 Jun 2026 22:34:38 UTC

Source modified

25 Jun 2026 23:01:26 UTC

Observed here

24 Oct 2026 13:19:41 UTC

Source terms

OSV · upstream source license applies

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · OSV · upstream source license applies. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.