{"id":59802,"date":"2025-08-01T14:26:59","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T14:26:59","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-11-01T16:17:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T22:17:04","slug":"cve-2025-54416-arbitrary-command-execution-vulnerability-in-tj-actions-branch-names-github-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-54416-arbitrary-command-execution-vulnerability-in-tj-actions-branch-names-github-action\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2025-54416: Arbitrary Command Execution Vulnerability in tj-actions\/branch-names Github Action<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A severe cybersecurity vulnerability, designated as CVE-2025-54416, has been discovered that concerns Github users, particularly those relying on the tj-actions\/branch-names repository. This repository offers Github actions that retrieve branch or tag names, offering support for all event types. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-40738-critical-arbitrary-file-write-vulnerability-in-sinec-nms\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"66569\">vulnerability is critical<\/a>, as it enables arbitrary command execution, a possibility that opens up a system to significant security risks. It&#8217;s particularly alarming considering the popularity and widespread use of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-53104-command-injection-vulnerability-in-gluestack-ui-s-github-actions-workflow\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"92084\">Github actions<\/a>, making this vulnerability one that demands immediate attention and remediation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2025-54416<br \/>\nSeverity: Critical (CVSS: 9.1)<br \/>\nAttack Vector: Remote<br \/>\nPrivileges Required: None<br \/>\nUser Interaction: None<br \/>\nImpact: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-31278-memory-corruption-vulnerability-with-potential-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"70447\">Potential system<\/a> compromise or data leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-716532908\" class=\"ameeb-content-2 ameeb-entity-placement\"><div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #555; padding-left: 20px; margin: 48px 0; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; line-height: 1.6; max-width: 720px;\">\r\n  <h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 600; display: flex; align-items: center; letter-spacing: -0.02em;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; margin-right: 10px;\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Best-App-icon-Ameeba.png\" alt=\"Ameeba Chat Icon\" style=\"width: 42px; height: 42px;\" \/>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    Share secrets securely\r\n  <\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 14px; color: #d1d5db;\">\r\n    Ameeba is private infrastructure for communication and sensitive work built on encrypted identity instead of exposed corporate identity systems.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 18px; color: #a1a1aa;\">\r\n    Passwords, credentials, confidential files, screenshots, internal discussions, sensitive AI context, and private coordination should not become exposed across ordinary communication platforms.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <ul style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-bottom: 24px; color: #e4e4e7;\">\r\n    <li style=\"margin-bottom: 8px;\">\u2022 Encrypted identity<\/li>\r\n    <li style=\"margin-bottom: 8px;\">\u2022 Private Spaces for organizations and teams<\/li>\r\n    <li style=\"margin-bottom: 8px;\">\u2022 End-to-end encrypted chat, calls, files, and notes<\/li>\r\n    <li style=\"margin-bottom: 8px;\">\u2022 Sensitive AI work and protected collaboration<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Built for information that cannot leak<\/li>\r\n  <\/ul>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"font-style: italic; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 24px; color: #ffffff;\">\r\n    Our mission is to secure human work alongside AI.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <div style=\"display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\/download\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 8px; font-weight: 500;\">\r\n      Download Ameeba\r\n    <\/a>\r\n\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"border: 1px solid #ffffff; color: #ffffff; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 8px; font-weight: 500;\">\r\n      Learn More\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n<p>tj-actions\/branch-names | Versions 8.2.1 and below<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-8279-critical-input-validation-vulnerability-in-gitlab-language-server\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"68803\">vulnerability arises because of inconsistent input<\/a> sanitization and unescaped output in the tj-actions\/branch-names&#8217; Github Action workflows. Malicious actors can exploit specially crafted branch names or tags. Despite the internal sanitization mechanisms in place, the action outputs remain vulnerable, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-7793-critical-vulnerability-in-tenda-fh451-leading-to-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"68804\">leading to potential system<\/a> compromise or data leakage if exploited.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-3317163301\" class=\"ameeb-content ameeb-entity-placement\"><div class=\"poptin-embedded\" data-id=\"f6b387694f681\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-8028-critical-vulnerability-in-firefox-and-thunderbird-due-to-incorrect-computation-of-branch-address\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"73842\">vulnerability could be exploited by using a specially crafted branch<\/a> name or tag. Conceptually, it can be demonstrated as follows:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\">$ git branch &#039;; rm -rf \/&#039;\n$ git push origin &#039;; rm -rf \/&#039;<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>In this conceptual example, a branch name containing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-7097-critical-command-injection-vulnerability-in-comodo-internet-security-premium\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"68239\">command injection<\/a> payload (i.e., &#8216;; rm -rf \/&#8217;) is created and pushed to the remote repository. When the tj-actions\/branch-names Github Action processes this branch name, it may inadvertently execute the injected command, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-25214-race-condition-vulnerability-in-wwbn-avideo-14-4-leading-to-arbitrary-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"67519\">leading to arbitrary<\/a> command execution.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mitigation Strategies<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Users are strongly advised to update to version 9.0.0 of tj-actions\/branch-names, where this vulnerability is patched. For those unable to update immediately, implementing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as temporary mitigation. This measure can help detect and block potentially malicious payloads in branch or tag names. However, this should be considered only as a temporary solution until the patch can be applied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview A severe cybersecurity vulnerability, designated as CVE-2025-54416, has been discovered that concerns Github users, particularly those relying on the tj-actions\/branch-names repository. This repository offers Github actions that retrieve branch or tag names, offering support for all event types. The vulnerability is critical, as it enables arbitrary command execution, a possibility that opens up a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[79],"product":[],"attack_vector":[78,80],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-59802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-github","attack_vector-injection","attack_vector-rce"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59802"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85292,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59802\/revisions\/85292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59802"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=59802"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=59802"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=59802"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=59802"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=59802"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=59802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}