Apache Airflow: Variable masker depth-limit bypass returns cleartext nested secrets

Summary

CVECVE-2026-42358
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerapache
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-06-01 09:16:18 UTC
Updated2026-06-02 17:16:32 UTC
DescriptionA bug in Apache Airflow's Variable response masker caused nested-key redaction (triggered by secret-suffixed key names like `password`, `token`, `secret`, `api_key`) to be bypassed when the JSON value's nesting depth exceeded the shared secrets masker's recursion limit: the masker returned the original nested item before checking the sensitive key name. An authenticated UI/API user with Variable read permission could harvest plaintext secret values stored under sensitive keys nested deep enough to exceed the masker's depth cap. Affects deployments that store sensitive values inside deeply-nested JSON Variables. This is a residual gap in the fix for CVE-2026-32690 (which covered shallower nesting via `max_depth=1`); the depth-limit boundary itself was not raised, so the same key-name bypass pattern reappears beyond the recursion cap. Users who already upgraded for CVE-2026-32690 should additionally upgrade to `apache-airflow` 3.2.2 or later to cover the deep-nesting path.

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: 0.000410000 probability, percentile 0.128030000 (date 2026-06-08)

Problem Types: CWE-200 | CWE-200 CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor


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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Apache Software Foundation Apache Airflow affected 3.2.2 semver Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
lists.apache.org/thread/33635mv3zjb75wn5453c5yf9trs8x2om [email protected] lists.apache.org Mailing List, Vendor Advisory
github.com/apache/airflow/pull/65912 [email protected] github.com Issue Tracking, Patch
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 (confirmed in original report sign-off) (en)

CNA: Aymane MAZGUITI – unclej4ck (en)

CNA: Ilyase Dehy – Albert (en)

CNA: Jarek Potiuk (en)

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