Apache NiFi: Missing Process Group Authorization for Connector Migration
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · Low · None
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-862.
Summary
Apache NiFi 2.11.0 supports migrating the contents of a version-controlled Process Group into a Connector using REST API methods that list eligible migration sources and submit migration requests. The framework authorized both methods against the target Connector alone, without evaluating access to the Process Groups involved. The absence of Process Group authorization allowed an authenticated user with read access to a Connector to enumerate the identifiers, names, and flow registry details of version-controlled Process Groups outside the scope of granted read policies. It also allowed a user with write access to a Connector to migrate a Process Group without write access to that Process Group, copying the flow definition, referenced assets, and component state into the Connector, and leaving the source Process Group disabled and renamed. Migration excludes sensitive property values and requires the source Process Group to be stopped with empty queues, which limits the scope of exposure. Apache NiFi installations that do not implement component-level authorization policies for Process Groups are not subject to this vulnerability, because the framework enforces Connector write permissions as the security boundary. Upgrading to Apache NiFi 2.12.0 is the recommended mitigation, which filters migration sources to Process Groups the requesting user is authorized to read, and requires write access to the source Process Group when submitting a migration request.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-86089
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-5rjq-rw3w-qr4c
References
More Apache Nifi vulnerabilities
- TI-2023-17293 Apache NiFi: Potential Code Injection with Database Services using H2 CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2020-16549 Uncontrolled resource consumption in Eclipse Jetty CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.3
- TI-2019-07411 Deserialization of untrusted data in Apache Commons Beanutils CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.3
- TI-2017-11471 Improper input validation in Apache NiFi CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2018-01212 XML external entity injection in Apache NiFi CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2021-03489 Deserialization of untrusted data in jackson-databind CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.1
Sources
- CVE-2026-86089 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-86089 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-5rjq-rw3w-qr4c · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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