Apache Airflow: Arbitrary airflow.* class instantiation on the API server via the XCom deserialize endpoint
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:L/I:L/A:NSeverity
medium5.4CVSS 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 vulnerability allowing authenticated API users with XCom write-and-read access to instantiate arbitrary airflow.* classes. This occurs via the XCom deserialize endpoint. An attacker must have authenticated access to trigger the unsafe instantiation.
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
Check the exact model, release, and any platform requirements against your installation.
Apache Software Foundation · apache
Apache Airflow
1 range
Apache Software Foundation · apache
Apache Airflow
Package identity
pkg:pypi/apache-airflowExplore apache-airflow →Identity supplied by apache. Version matching requires compatible range evidence.
Compare with this publisher’s ranges. This does not inspect your installation.
affected
0 → before 3.0.0
semver versions
Other versions: unaffected
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.
Compare with this publisher’s ranges. This does not inspect your installation.
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 XCom GET /api/v2/{...}/xcomEntries/{key}?deserialize=true endpoint passed a string-literal payload through BaseXCom.deserialize_value without the _check_forbidden_xcom_keys guard, allowing an authenticated API user with XCom write-and-read access to instantiate arbitrary airflow.* classes on the API server (CWE-502). An authenticated user who can write an XCom value and then read it back with deserialize=true triggers the unsafe instantiation. Users are advised to upgrade to apache-airflow 3.3.1 or later, which rejects reserved XCom serialization keys submitted as JSON string literals.
References
3 sourcesInside the record
Evidence available
Describes the evidence in this view, not whether the product is safe.
Original records
CVE-2026-59242View 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 · 3
Assigning organization
Additional data publisher
Additional data publisher
Timeline
All times UTCAdvisory published
Publication date supplied by the source.
Source updated
Latest modification date supplied by the source.
Last imported by cve.new
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What changed
Follow changesLarge field values are marked as truncated previews. Original source snapshots remain retained.