CVE-2025-68438VulnerabilityPublished 16 Jan 2026

CVE-2025-68438: Apache Airflow · Information Exposure

Affects Apache AirflowSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High : upgrade to 3.1.6 soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 49% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3.1.6

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 16 Jan 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade Apache Airflow to 3.1.6.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Apache Software FoundationApache Airflow	Affected >=3.1.0 <3.1.6	Fixed in 3.1.6
PyPIapache-airflow`pkg:pypi/apache-airflow`Other threats	Affected =3.1.0	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

1. Upgrade Apache Airflow to version 3.1.6 or later immediately to apply the official fix that ensures proper masking of secrets in rendered templates. 2. Review and audit all DAG templates for embedded sensitive information and minimize the inclusion of secrets in templates where possible. 3. Implement strict access controls on the Airflow UI, limiting access to trusted personnel only and enforcing strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA). 4. Regularly monitor Airflow logs and UI access patterns to detect any unauthorized or suspicious activity. 5. Use environment variables or secret management tools integrated with Airflow to handle sensitive data securely, avoiding hardcoding secrets in templates. 6. Educate developers and operators about secure template practices and the risks of exposing secrets in UI components. 7. Consider network segmentation or VPN access restrictions to limit exposure of the Airflow UI to internal or secure networks only. 8. If upgrading immediately is not feasible, temporarily restrict access to the Rendered Templates UI or disable features that render long template fields until patched.

Description

In Apache Airflow versions before 3.1.6, when rendered template fields in a Dag exceed [core] max_templated_field_length, sensitive values could be exposed in cleartext in the Rendered Templates UI. This occurred because serialization of those fields used a secrets masker instance that did not include user-registered mask_secret() patterns, so secrets were not reliably masked before truncation and display. Users are recommended to upgrade to 3.1.6 or later, which fixes this issue

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2025-68438 is the unauthorized exposure of sensitive information such as credentials, tokens, or other secrets embedded in Airflow DAG templates. This can lead to confidentiality breaches, enabling attackers or unauthorized insiders to gain access to critical systems or data by leveraging exposed secrets. For European organizations, especially those in regulated industries like finance, healthcare, or critical infrastructure, such exposure could result in compliance violations (e.g., GDPR), reputational damage, and increased risk of further compromise. Since the vulnerability requires access to the Airflow UI, the risk is heightened in environments where UI access controls are weak or where multiple users share access. The exposure could facilitate lateral movement within networks or unauthorized data exfiltration. Although no direct availability or integrity impacts are reported, the confidentiality breach alone is significant. The lack of known exploits in the wild suggests limited immediate threat, but the widespread use of Airflow in Europe means the vulnerability could be targeted once public disclosure is widespread.

CWE-200Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #20OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
V7.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Subverting Environment Variable Values (opens in a new tab)
ICMP Echo Request Ping (opens in a new tab)
TCP SYN Scan (opens in a new tab)
Enumerate Mail Exchange (MX) Records (opens in a new tab)
DNS Zone Transfers (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 16 Jan 2026, 10:36 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-200

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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