Apache Airflow: Unguarded import_string() of airflow_exc_ser / base_exc_ser exception nodes in BaseSerialization.deserialize enables DAG-author RCE on Scheduler / API Server

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-58076
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerapache
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-08-12 16:17:08 UTC
Updated2026-08-12 16:17:08 UTC
DescriptionApache Airflow's serialization layer reconstructed exception nodes by calling `import_string()` on a class name taken from the serialized blob and instantiating it with arguments from the same blob, with no restriction on what could be imported. An operator's `executor_config` reaches that branch, so a Dag author could place a value there that causes an arbitrary callable to be imported and invoked -- for example `subprocess.check_output`, or `builtins.eval` on the `builtins`-prefixed variant. The code runs in the **Scheduler**, which reconstructs serialized Dags in its normal loop with no request involved, and in the **API server**, on any authenticated read of the Dag such as `GET /api/v2/dags/{dag_id}/details`. Both are components the Airflow security model states must never execute Dag-author code, and both hold the metadata database credentials and the JWT signing secret. No non-default configuration is required. This is a **different sink from CVE-2026-33264**, which covered only the trigger branch of the same deserializer: deployments that upgraded in response to that advisory are still affected through the exception branch and must upgrade again. Users are advised to upgrade to apache-airflow 3.3.1 or later, which restricts the imported class to a subclass of `BaseException`.

Risk And Classification

Problem Types: CWE-502 | CWE-502 CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Apache Software Foundation Apache Airflow affected 3.0.0 3.3.1 semver Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
www.cve.org/CVERecord [email protected] www.cve.org
github.com/apache/airflow/pull/68511 [email protected] github.com
lists.apache.org/thread/t81p688t15jozxsng8521o60nh2kfsos [email protected] lists.apache.org
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: Jan Kahmen (turingpoint), GitHub: @kah-ja (en)

CNA: Jarek Potiuk (en)

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