ghtier
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ApplicationOngoing

GitHub App installation token abuse

An attacker holding the App private key, or landing on a runner that carries the installation, mints fresh short-lived tokens with scopes like contents:write and pull_requests:write, then reads private repos, pushes code, or opens malicious PRs. GHES also had an incorrect-authorization bug, fixed in 2022 (versions 3.3.17/3.4.12/3.5.9/3.6.5), where a scoped user-to-server token could escalate to full admin/owner.

Permissions abused

App private key theftcontents:writepull_requests:write

On the permission reference

Frameworks

Ongoing. First seen January 2022. Mapping by ghtier, not yet reviewed. Threat landscape