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TI-2026-36484 Aliases CVE-2026-49298GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94

Apache Airflow: JWT Token Exposure in KubernetesExecutor Command-Line Arguments

Priority MEDIUM 41CWE-538Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.

Summary

A bug in Apache Airflow's KubernetesExecutor caused JWT tokens used by worker pods to authenticate against the Execution API to be passed to the worker container as command-line arguments visible in the pod spec. An authenticated UI/API user with Kubernetes read-only access to the cluster (e.g. `pods/get` in the Airflow namespace) could harvest the JWT from `kubectl describe pod` output and then call state-mutating Execution API endpoints — triggering Dag runs, clearing runs, reading or writing Variables / Connections / XComs — as if they were a running task. Affects deployments using the `KubernetesExecutor`. Users are advised to upgrade to `apache-airflow` 3.2.2 or later. This is the airflow-core half of the same vulnerability addressed by [CVE-2026-27173](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-27173), which shipped the apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes side of the fix. Deployments that already upgraded `apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes` to 10.17.0 or later per the CVE-2026-27173 advisory should additionally upgrade `apache-airflow` to 3.2.2 or later to close the core-side surface — the two fixes are complementary, not duplicates.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00489 42nd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed Apache Airflow (Apache Software Foundation): 3.0.0, 3.2.2apache-airflow-core (PyPI): 3.2.2

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
ApacheApache Airflowbefore 3.0.03.0.0Patch availableCNA
ApacheApache Airflow3.0.0 to before 3.2.23.2.2Patch availableCNA
—apache-airflow-core (PyPI)before 3.2.23.2.2Patch availableGHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94
  • Apache Airflow VendorApache Affected before 3.0.0 Fixed in 3.0.0 Patch available CNA
  • Apache Airflow VendorApache Affected 3.0.0 to before 3.2.2 Fixed in 3.2.2 Patch available CNA
  • apache-airflow-core (PyPI) Vendor— Affected before 3.2.2 Fixed in 3.2.2 Patch available GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:apache:airflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*before 3.2.2VulnerableApache
  • cpe:2.3:a:apache:airflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 3.2.2 Vulnerable ·Apache

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Apache Airflow (Apache Software Foundation) Fixed in 3.0.0
  • Fix · CNA Apache Airflow (Apache Software Foundation) Fixed in 3.2.2
  • Fix · GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94 apache-airflow-core (PyPI) Fixed in 3.2.2 Advisory →

Fixed in the same release

Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.

  • Release ·

    Apache Airflow 3.2.2

    17 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 3 MEDIUM, 14 LOW

    Other records, highest priority first

    • TI-2026-30568 Apache Airflow: BashOperator Jinja2 injection via dag_run.conf — low-privilege user patternPriority MEDIUM 47
    • TI-2026-30661 Apache Airflow: Authenticated RCE via XCom PATCH endpoint — XComUpdateBody missing FORBIDDEN_XCOM_KEYS validatorPriority MEDIUM 41
    • TI-2026-33151 Apache Airflow: Arbitrary import in custom deadline-reference deserializationPriority LOW 39
    Show all 17 records →
  • Release ·

    Apache Airflow 3.0.0

    9 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 1 MEDIUM, 8 LOW

    Other records, highest priority first

    • TI-2026-33151 Apache Airflow: Arbitrary import in custom deadline-reference deserializationPriority LOW 39
    • TI-2026-29518 Apache Airflow: Arbitrary File Read via Log Symlink following in FileTaskHandlerPriority LOW 30
    • TI-2026-36006 Apache Airflow: revoke_token() unreachable in FabAuthManager / KeycloakAuthManager logout pathPriority LOW 29
    Show all 9 records →

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-49298
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94
  3. 2026-10-25 EPSS moved to the below the 50th percentile
  4. 2026-11-03 Fix available: [email protected], [email protected] · CNA

References

Patch 1

Advisory 2

Other 1

  • TI-2020-10905 Missing authentication in Apache Airflow KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2020-09638 OS command injection in Apache Airflow KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2022-19017 Apache Airflow <2.4.0 has an RCE in a bash example CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2021-16140 Apache Airflow: Variable Import endpoint missed authentication check CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2022-08169 Apache Airflow: RCE in example DAGs CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2024-26776 Apache Airflow: DAG Author Code Execution possibility in airflow-scheduler CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
See all 157 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences