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
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`.
BIT-airflow-2026-58076
Primary source · Revision 2
Imported from structured advisory data. Source references identify upstream records or fields; verify affected versions and your deployed configuration.
Security context
Source reference: osv:BIT-airflow-2026-58076
airflow
Source reference: /affected/0/package/name
- Affected versions
- Not stated in this record
- Fixed versions
- 3.3.1
Source reference:
/affected/0/ranges - Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
Structured affected-version data
Original package identities and version rules from this source.
[
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "SEMVER",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "3.3.0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.3.1"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "airflow",
"purl": "pkg:bitnami/airflow",
"ecosystem": "Bitnami"
},
"severity": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V3",
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
}
],
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://github.com/bitnami/vulndb/tree/main/data/airflow/BIT-airflow-2026-58076.json"
}
}
]- Related CVEs
- CVE-2026-58076
Source reference:
/aliases
Publisher severity
high
Source reference: /database_specific/severity
- Event
- #72781 · Revision 2
- Added to Heist Feed
- Publisher date