Apache Airflow: Execution API JWT leaked via KubernetesExecutor worker command-line args

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

8.8 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

• CVE-2026-49298: 0.49% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 42.11 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

A bug in Apache Airflow's KubernetesExecutor caused JWT tokens used by worker pods to authenticate against the Execution API to be passed to the worker container as command-line arguments visible in the pod spec. An authenticated UI/API user with Kubernetes read-only access to the cluster (e.g. pods/get in the Airflow namespace) could harvest the JWT from kubectl describe pod output and then call state-mutating Execution API endpoints — triggering Dag runs, clearing runs, reading or writing Variables / Connections / XComs — as if they were a running task. Affects deployments using the KubernetesExecutor. Users are advised to upgrade to apache-airflow 3.2.2 or later. This is the airflow-core half of the same vulnerability addressed by CVE-2026-27173, which shipped the apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes side of the fix. Deployments that already upgraded apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes to 10.17.0 or later per the CVE-2026-27173 advisory should additionally upgrade…

Published by the source

1 Jun 2026, 09:31 UTC

Last modified by the source

13 Jul 2026, 16:43 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 13:46 UTC

1. Revision 2 · amended · 26 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94

2. Revision 1 · created · 24 Oct 2026

   Published from osv record GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-49298

Advisory: Apache Airflow: Execution API JWT leaked via KubernetesExecutor worker command-line args
IDs: CVE-2026-49298, GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-49298 (revision 2, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:46 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.8)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: apache-airflow-core 3.2.2. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI apache-airflow-core: affected < 3.2.2; fixed in 3.2.2

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `python -m pip show apache-airflow-core`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on apache-airflow-core.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94 (OSV record GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94 lists affected ranges: PyPI apache-airflow-core >=0 <3.2.2 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94 lists affected ranges: PyPI apache-airflow-core >=0 <3.2.2)

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