Apache Airflow bulk endpoints log Variable and Connection secrets in cleartext

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2026-68969: 0.36% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 29.62 (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.

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…

Published by the source

12 Aug 2026, 18:31 UTC

Last modified by the source

2 Oct 2026, 23:14 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 13:54 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-cjv4-7hp2-2x9h

Preview the exact text before you copy it. Commands are read-only suggestions; review them before running anything.

# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-68969

Advisory: Apache Airflow bulk endpoints log Variable and Connection secrets in cleartext
IDs: CVE-2026-68969, GHSA-cjv4-7hp2-2x9h
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-68969 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:54 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 6.5)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: apache-airflow 3.3.1. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI apache-airflow: affected < 3.3.1; fixed in 3.3.1

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `python -m pip show apache-airflow`: 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.
- 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://github.com/advisories/GHSA-cjv4-7hp2-2x9h (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-cjv4-7hp2-2x9h lists affected ranges: PyPI apache-airflow >=0 <3.3.1)

Commands are suggestions: review each one before running it.