VulnerabilityPublished 17 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-28779: Apache Airflow · Resource Exposure

Affects Apache AirflowSource CVE Database V5

Compare

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High : upgrade to 3.1.8 soon.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

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

EPSS: 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 53% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3.1.8

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 17 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 29 Oct 2026.

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.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity 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 3.1.8.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Apache Software FoundationApache Airflow	Affected >=3.0.0 <3.1.8	Fixed in 3.1.8
GitHubapache/airflow`pkg:github/apache/airflow`Other threats	Affected =3.0.0	Fixed in–

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

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-28779, organizations should upgrade Apache Airflow to version 3.1.8 or later, where the session cookie path is correctly scoped to the configured base URLs, preventing token exposure across co-hosted applications. Until upgrading is possible, administrators should consider isolating Airflow deployments on dedicated domains or subdomains to prevent cookie sharing with other applications. Implementing strict Content Security Policies (CSP) and Subresource Integrity (SRI) can reduce the risk of cross-application script injection that might lead to token theft. Additionally, reviewing and minimizing the number of applications hosted under the same domain can reduce the attack surface. Monitoring and logging unusual session activities or token usage can help detect potential hijacking attempts early. Employing network segmentation and strict access controls around Airflow hosting environments further limits exposure. Finally, educating developers and administrators about secure cookie attributes (e.g., HttpOnly, Secure, and proper Path scoping) can prevent similar issues in future deployments.

Description

Apache Airflow versions 3.1.0 through 3.1.7 session token (_token) in cookies is set to path=/ regardless of the configured [webserver] base_url or [api] base_url. This allows any application co-hosted under the same domain to capture valid Airflow session tokens from HTTP request headers, allowing full session takeover without attacking Airflow itself. Users are recommended to upgrade to Apache Airflow 3.1.8 or later, which resolves this issue.

Impact

The impact of CVE-2026-28779 is substantial for organizations using Apache Airflow versions 3.1.0 through 3.1.7, especially those hosting multiple applications under the same domain. Attackers who control or compromise any co-hosted application can steal session tokens and fully hijack Airflow user sessions, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive workflow management, data pipelines, and potentially critical operational processes. This can result in data breaches, unauthorized modifications or deletions of workflows, disruption of automated processes, and exposure of sensitive business logic or data. Since Airflow is often used in data engineering, analytics, and operational automation, such unauthorized access could have cascading effects on data integrity and availability. The vulnerability does not require direct exploitation of Airflow itself, lowering the attack complexity and increasing the risk in multi-tenant or shared hosting environments. Organizations with strict domain sharing policies or those running Airflow alongside other web applications on the same domain are particularly at risk. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate threat but does not diminish the urgency of remediation given the ease of exploitation once a co-hosted application is compromised.

CWE-668Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product exposes a resource to the wrong control sphere, providing unintended actors with inappropriate access to the resource.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 17 Mar 2026, 10:42 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-668

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats