Apache Airflow CNCF Kubernetes provider, Apache Airflow: Kubernetes configuration file saved without encryption in the Metadata and logged as plain text in the Triggerer service

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Summary

CVECVE-2023-51702
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerapache
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2024-01-24 13:15:08 UTC
Updated2026-07-02 17:01:47 UTC
DescriptionSince version 5.2.0, when using deferrable mode with the path of a Kubernetes configuration file for authentication, the Airflow worker serializes this configuration file as a dictionary and sends it to the triggerer by storing it in metadata without any encryption. Additionally, if used with an Airflow version between 2.3.0 and 2.6.0, the configuration dictionary will be logged as plain text in the triggerer service without masking. This allows anyone with access to the metadata or triggerer log to obtain the configuration file and use it to access the Kubernetes cluster. This behavior was changed in version 7.0.0, which stopped serializing the file contents and started providing the file path instead to read the contents into the trigger. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 7.0.0, which fixes this issue.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 6.5 MEDIUM from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

EPSS: 0.003810000 probability, percentile 0.301080000 (date 2026-07-04)

Problem Types: CWE-312 | CWE-532 | CWE-532 CWE-532 Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File | CWE-312 CWE-312 Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Primary6.5MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
3.1ADPDECLARED6.5MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
3.1134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0Secondary6.5MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Application Apache Airflow All All All All
Application Apache Apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes All All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Apache Software Foundation Apache Airflow CNCF Kubernetes Provider affected 5.2.0 7.0.0 semver Not specified
CNA Apache Software Foundation Apache Airflow affected 2.3.0 2.6.1 semver Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
Avoid logging sensitive information in triggerer job log by hussein-awala · Pull Request #30110 · apache/airflow · GitHub af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 github.com Patch
add missing read for K8S config file from conn in deferred `KubernetesPodOperator` by hussein-awala · Pull Request #29498 · apache/airflow · GitHub af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 github.com Issue Tracking, Patch
Support encryption for triggers parameters by hussein-awala · Pull Request #36492 · apache/airflow · GitHub af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 github.com Issue Tracking, Patch
oss-security - CVE-2023-51702: Apache Airflow CNCF Kubernetes provider, Apache Airflow: Kubernetes configuration file saved without encryption in the Metadata and logged as plain text in the Triggerer service af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
lists.apache.org/thread/89x3q6lz5pykrkr1fkr04k4rfn9pvnv9 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.apache.org Mailing List, Vendor Advisory
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Vendor Comments And Credit

Discovery Credit

CNA: Hussein Awala (en)

CNA: Hussein Awala (en)

Legacy QID Mappings

  • 996889 Python (Pip) Security Update for apache-airflow (GHSA-mg2x-mggj-6955)

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