Apache Airflow: RCE by race condition in example_xcom dag

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Summary

CVECVE-2025-54550
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerapache
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-04-15 04:17:32 UTC
Updated2026-04-17 18:38:08 UTC
DescriptionThe example example_xcom that was included in airflow documentation implemented unsafe pattern of reading value from xcom in the way that could be exploited to allow UI user who had access to modify XComs to perform arbitrary execution of code on the worker. Since the UI users are already highly trusted, this is a Low severity vulnerability. It does not affect Airflow release - example_dags are not supposed to be enabled in production environment, however users following the example could replicate the bad pattern. Documentation of Airflow 3.2.0 contains version of the example with improved resiliance for that case. Users who followed that pattern are advised to adjust their implementations accordingly.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 8.1 HIGH from ADP

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

EPSS: 0.000570000 probability, percentile 0.178750000 (date 2026-04-21)

Problem Types: CWE-94 | CWE-94 CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1ADPDECLARED8.1HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
3.1134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0Secondary8.1HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

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

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

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Application Apache Airflow All All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Apache Software Foundation Apache Airflow affected 3.2.0 semver Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/apache/airflow/pull/63200 [email protected] github.com Issue Tracking
lists.apache.org/thread/3mf4cfx070ofsnf9qy0s2v5gqb5sc2g1 [email protected] lists.apache.org Mailing List, Vendor Advisory
www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/15/1 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com Mailing List, Third Party 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: Vincent55 Yang (en)

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