Apache Airflow: Unguarded import_string() of airflow_exc_ser / base_exc_ser exception nodes in BaseSerialization.deserialize enables DAG-author RCE on Scheduler / API Server
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
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| Apache Software Foundation | Apache Airflow | unaffected |
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No data.
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| Apache | Airflow |
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| Source | ID | Title |
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Github GHSA |
GHSA-8prw-8m6x-8w6f | Apache Airflow exception-node deserialization permits arbitrary callable execution |
No CVSS v4.0
No CVSS v3.0
No CVSS v2
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
Exploit prediction score: < 1% (0.484% probability within 30 days)
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| Metrics |
ssvc
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| CPEs | cpe:2.3:a:apache:airflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Metrics |
cvssV3_1
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| First Time appeared |
Apache
Apache airflow |
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| Vendors & Products |
Apache
Apache airflow |
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| Description | Apache Airflow's serialization layer reconstructed exception nodes by calling `import_string()` on a class name taken from the serialized blob and instantiating it with arguments from the same blob, with no restriction on what could be imported. An operator's `executor_config` reaches that branch, so a Dag author could place a value there that causes an arbitrary callable to be imported and invoked -- for example `subprocess.check_output`, or `builtins.eval` on the `builtins`-prefixed variant. The code runs in the **Scheduler**, which reconstructs serialized Dags in its normal loop with no request involved, and in the **API server**, on any authenticated read of the Dag such as `GET /api/v2/dags/{dag_id}/details`. Both are components the Airflow security model states must never execute Dag-author code, and both hold the metadata database credentials and the JWT signing secret. No non-default configuration is required. This is a **different sink from CVE-2026-33264**, which covered only the trigger branch of the same deserializer: deployments that upgraded in response to that advisory are still affected through the exception branch and must upgrade again. Users are advised to upgrade to apache-airflow 3.3.1 or later, which restricts the imported class to a subclass of `BaseException`. | |
| Title | Apache Airflow: Unguarded import_string() of airflow_exc_ser / base_exc_ser exception nodes in BaseSerialization.deserialize enables DAG-author RCE on Scheduler / API Server | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-502 | |
| References |
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