Approving PR workflows should show which commit will be evaluated

[ericcornelissen]

Why are you starting this discussion?

Product Feedback

What GitHub Actions topic or product is this about?

Misc

Discussion Details

When an external contributor opens a Pull Request their workflows must be approved (if so configured) to run. If multiple commits are pushed (individually) before any approval happens, the approval button on the Pull Request is for the latest commit in the Pull Request.

However, if you go to the list of workflows requiring action (i.e. https://github.com/<owner>/<project/actions?query=is%3Aaction_required) there will be jobs waiting for the other pushed commits. For example:

However, it is nearly impossible¹ to tell which commit these workflow awaiting action correspond to. This opens up a possible attack vector where an attacker pushes a bunch of commits, somewhere in the middle is a malicious commit which is subsequently undone. Now, when deciding whether to run a specific job from the above list I can't tell if I'll be running the malicious code or not.

For this reason, I need to be able to tell (easily) which commit will be used for the job I'm looking at. Currently, the only information provided (as far as I can tell) is the time, author, pull request number, branch name, and specific workflow that will be run. The individual workflow view does not provide additional information:

---

Some responses to questions I'm expecting:

1. Yes, even if the trigger is pull_request: the job is still tied to a commit. I verified this by allowing one of the jobs from the image above and checking which commit in the corresponding pull requests got a progress indicator -- it was not the latest commit.²
2. If you believe there's no point in approving old workflows I ask why the feature exists? If the feature exists, regardless of your opinion of it, it should be secure.
3. If you believe this attack vector is unrealistic, I'll happily demonstrate it in practice with a benign payload just to prove the point 🙃

Footnotes

1. Apart from counting the number of workflows waiting and numbers of commits pushed and/or comparing the times (assuming there was no outage). ↩

2. I was not really able to verify which commit it actually checked out in the workflow. It might have been the commit at the pull request head. If that's the case, this is a bug report for the status indicator instead. ↩

[github-actions[bot]]

💬 Your Product Feedback Has Been Submitted 🎉

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights with us! Your feedback is invaluable as we build a better GitHub experience for all our users.

Here's what you can expect moving forward ⏩

• Your input will be carefully reviewed and cataloged by members of our product teams. 
  • Due to the high volume of submissions, we may not always be able to provide individual responses.
  • Rest assured, your feedback will help chart our course for product improvements.
• Other users may engage with your post, sharing their own perspectives or experiences. 
• GitHub staff may reach out for further clarification or insight. 
  • We may 'Answer' your discussion if there is a current solution, workaround, or roadmap/changelog post related to the feedback.

Where to look to see what's shipping 👀

• Read the Changelog for real-time updates on the latest GitHub features, enhancements, and calls for feedback.
• Explore our Product Roadmap, which details upcoming major releases and initiatives.

What you can do in the meantime 💻

• Upvote and comment on other user feedback Discussions that resonate with you.
• Add more information at any point! Useful details include: use cases, relevant labels, desired outcomes, and any accompanying screenshots.

As a member of the GitHub community, your participation is essential. While we can't promise that every suggestion will be implemented, we want to emphasize that your feedback is instrumental in guiding our decisions and priorities.

Thank you once again for your contribution to making GitHub even better! We're grateful for your ongoing support and collaboration in shaping the future of our platform. ⭐