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
Severity and exploitation
KEV coverage does not rule out exploitation.
Assessment vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSeverity
high8.8CVSS measures technical severity, not the likelihood of an attack.
Known exploitation
Not listed in the checked CISA KEV catalog
Absence from CISA KEV does not rule out attacks.
Public exploit
Not established by this record
Missing evidence does not mean no public exploit exists.
Remediation
Fix status not established
No structured fix or guidance is available here. Check the latest publisher advisory.
What this means
Apache Airflow versions before 3.3.1 are affected by a deserialization vulnerability, allowing a DAG author to execute arbitrary code on the Scheduler and API Server. The vulnerability occurs due to unguarded import_string() calls. An attacker with authenticated access can exploit this weakness.
Summarized by @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast. Verify details against the original sources.Attack conditions
No attack-condition excerpt has been identified here. Review the full source description and references for authentication, network access, and configuration requirements.
Review supporting sources →Affected versions
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Apache Software Foundation · apache
Apache Airflow
1 range
Apache Software Foundation · apache
Apache Airflow
Package identity
pkg:pypi/apache-airflow-coreExplore apache-airflow-core →Identity supplied by apache. Version matching requires compatible range evidence.
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affected
3.0.0 → before 3.3.1
semver versions
Other versions: unaffected
What to do
Compare your installed product and version with the affected versions above. A matching product name alone does not confirm exposure.
No structured fix or remediation guidance is available here. Check the full source description and vendor’s latest advisory for a patch or workaround; do not assume another version is safe.
cve.new guidance unless attributed to a publisher. This page does not inspect your installation.
Public exploit evidence
No public exploit reference is identified in the imported evidence. This is not a claim that no exploit exists.
Original source description
Read the full publisher description
Apache 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.
References
3 sourcesInside the record
Evidence available
Describes the evidence in this view, not whether the product is safe.
Original records
CVE-2026-58076View the latest unmodified CVE JSON from the official source. It may be newer than this imported page.
cve.new JSON →Underlying weaknesses
The source’s classification of what caused the vulnerability.
Contributing organizations · 2
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Additional data publisher
Timeline
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Source updated
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Last imported by cve.new
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What changed
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