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CVE-2025-30154reviewdog/action-setup GitHub Action Embedded Malicious Code Vulnerability

Patch nowHigh8.6Exploited, CISA due date 2025-04-14EPSS 2.5%, higher than 85% of scored CVEs

CVE-2025-30154 is a embedded malicious code in reviewdog action-setup GitHub Action, rated high (8.6 on CVSS 3.1).

Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.

Published · Updated · NVD status: Analyzed

What it is

The product itself contains code that acts against its users.

How it is reached

An attacker can exploit it over the network, without an account, and nobody has to click anything.

What an attacker gains

A successful attack can read the data it protects. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker run their code inside your build or your running service. The damage can spread past the vulnerable component into others.

Is it being exploited?

CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2025-03-24: it is being exploited in the wild. It can be exploited automatically, at scale. EPSS estimates a 2.5% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 85% of scored CVEs.

What to do

  1. Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2025-04-14.
  2. No fixed version is listed for reviewdog action-setup GitHub Action itself; fixed versions for the other affected products are listed on this page.
  3. Until it is patched, keep it off the internet or behind a VPN, allowlist or authenticating proxy.
  4. Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.

Description from NVD

reviewdog/action-setup is a GitHub action that installs reviewdog. reviewdog/action-setup@v1 was compromised March 11, 2025, between 18:42 and 20:31 UTC, with malicious code added that dumps exposed secrets to Github Actions Workflow Logs. Other reviewdog actions that use `reviewdog/action-setup@v1` that would also be compromised, regardless of version or pinning method, are reviewdog/action-shellcheck, reviewdog/action-composite-template, reviewdog/action-staticcheck, reviewdog/action-ast-grep, and reviewdog/action-typos.

What this means for your architecture.

A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.

Components it touches

  • Build pipelines, dependencies and plugins. The flaw sits between third-party code and your build or runtime.
  • Update channels. The flaw sits between third-party code and your build or runtime.

Trust boundaries in play

  • Internet-facing entry points. No account is needed. Any instance reachable from outside your perimeter, through a load balancer, gateway, VPN or exposed admin port, is in scope.
  • Isolation between components. The impact crosses out of the vulnerable component into others it should be isolated from.
  • Between third-party code and your build or runtime. An attacker who crosses it can run their code inside your build or your running service.

Questions to answer about your own systems

  • Where does reviewdog action-setup GitHub Action run in your systems, and at which version?
  • Which of those instances can be reached from the internet or partner networks?
  • What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?

Sources

  • CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
  • Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
  • Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
  • Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.