CVE-2026-55701: open-telemetry github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/githubreceiver Incorrect Authorization

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-55701 is a medium (CVSS 6.9) Incorrect Authorization vulnerability in open-telemetry github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/githubreceiver. EPSS estimates a 0.70% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 52.6% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 15-09-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 17-09-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

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.

• CWE-863Incorrect AuthorizationThe product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.