VulnerabilityPublished 24 Apr 2026

CVE-2026-38743: Apache Airflow · Insufficient Granularity of Access Control

Affects Apache AirflowSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium : upgrade to 3.2.1 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.3Medium

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 28% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3.2.1

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
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: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
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: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
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 24 Apr 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 30 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 3.2.1.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Apache Software FoundationApache Airflow	Affected <3.2.1	Fixed in 3.2.1

AI-suggested

Users should upgrade Apache Airflow to version 3.2.1, which addresses this access control issue. No other mitigation or temporary workaround is indicated. Patch status is not explicitly stated in the vendor advisory but the recommendation to upgrade to 3.2.1 confirms an official fix is available.

Description

CVE-2026-38743 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apache Airflow where the /ui/dags endpoint fails to enforce per-DAG access control on embedded Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) and TaskInstance records. Authenticated users with read access to at least one DAG could access HITL prompts and full TaskInstance details for DAGs outside their authorized scope, exposing operator parameters and task context beyond intended boundaries. This issue widens visibility of DAG-run data beyond the intended per-DAG RBAC controls. An upgrade to Apache Airflow version 3.2.1 is recommended to fix this issue.

Impact

The impact is limited to unauthorized read access of HITL prompts and TaskInstance data for DAGs outside a user's authorized scope. This results in a confidentiality breach of operator parameters and task context data but does not affect integrity or availability. The CVSS score of 4.3 reflects a medium severity with network attack vector, low attack complexity, and requiring privileges but no user interaction.

Summary

The vulnerability in Apache Airflow involves insufficient granularity of access control (CWE-1220) on the /ui/dags endpoint. Specifically, authenticated users with read access to any DAG can retrieve embedded HITL prompts and TaskInstance details for DAGs they are not authorized to access. These records include operator parameters and free-form context, leading to unauthorized data exposure beyond the intended role-based access control (RBAC) scope. The issue affects versions prior to 3.2.1, which contains the fix.

CWE-1220Insufficient Granularity of Access Control (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
The product implements access controls via a policy or other feature with the intention to disable or restrict accesses (reads and/or writes) to assets in a system from untrusted agents. However, implemented access controls lack the required granularity
Architecture and Design · Implementation · Testing
Access-control-policy protections must be reviewed for design inconsistency and common weaknesses.; Access-control-policy definition and programming flow must be tested in pre-silicon, post-silicon testing.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Docker Security (opens in a new tab)
Third Party Javascript Management (opens in a new tab)
Virtual Patching (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.4.4 (opens in a new tab)
V1.4.5 (opens in a new tab)
V1.10.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs (opens in a new tab)
Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels (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 1 May 2026, 20:46 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-1220

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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