Apache Airflow: Bulk Variable and Connection endpoints record secret values in the audit log in cleartext
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-68969 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | apache |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-08-12 16:17:19 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-08-13 14:15:49 UTC |
| Description | Apache Airflow wrote Variable values and Connection `extra` contents to the audit log in cleartext when they were submitted through the bulk endpoints (`PATCH /api/v2/variables` and `PATCH /api/v2/connections`). The audit-log masking recognised only top-level request fields, and a bulk request nests its entities two levels below, so no masking was applied to them. Any authenticated user with audit-log read access -- who need not hold Variables or Connections read at all -- could recover those secrets verbatim, and the Connection `extra` copy is stored unencrypted in the log while the connection table encrypts it. The Airflow UI's *Import Variables* action posts to this endpoint, so an ordinary operator import wrote every secret in the file to the log. This is a different code path from CVE-2026-50204: that fix shipped in 3.3.0 and covers the single-entity endpoints only, so deployments that upgraded in response to that advisory remain affected and must upgrade again. Users are advised to upgrade to apache-airflow 3.3.1 or later. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 6.5 MEDIUM from ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS: 0.003580000 probability, percentile 0.287630000 (date 2026-08-14)
Problem Types: CWE-532 | CWE-532 CWE-532: Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | ADP | DECLARED | 6.5 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |
| 3.1 | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 | Secondary | 6.5 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
LowUser Interaction
NoneScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
HighIntegrity
NoneAvailability
NoneCVSS: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)
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Apache Software Foundation | Apache Airflow | affected 3.3.1 semver | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| lists.apache.org/thread/p3jr90jgp2brto4vwcrx680f3x11y70c | [email protected] | lists.apache.org | Mailing List |
| github.com/apache/airflow/pull/70890 | [email protected] | github.com | Patch, Issue Tracking |
| www.cve.org/CVERecord | [email protected] | www.cve.org | Not Applicable |
| 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: Jarek Potiuk (en)
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.