CVE-2026-49298: Apache Airflow Execution API JWT Leaked Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94
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CVSS 8.8
CWE-538
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-49298 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.8) execution api jwt leaked vulnerability (CWE-538: Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory) affecting Apache Airflow libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves execution api jwt leaked via kubernetesexecutor worker command-line args. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3.2.2.

CVE-2026-49298 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-49298
GHSA Identifier GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.8
CWE Classification CWE-538: Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory
Affected Product Apache Airflow
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-49298

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Apache Airflow dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

apache-airflow-core fixed: 3.2.2 
pip install apache-airflow-core>=3.2.2
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show apache-airflow-core

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2026-49298, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show apache-airflow-core

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Apache Airflow in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 3.2.2), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show apache-airflow-core command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-538: Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory, where the product places sensitive information into files or directories that are accessible to actors who are allowed to have access to the files, but not to the sensitive information. In Apache Airflow, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

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](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=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 `apache-airflow` to 3.2.2 or later to close the core-side surface — the two fixes are complementary, not duplicates.

CVE-2026-49298 Affected Apache Airflow Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
3.2.2
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
apache-airflow-core
pypi/apache-airflow-core
PyPI
< 3.2.2
3.2.2

References

NVD — CVE-2026-49298 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-49298
Apache Airflow Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/60108
Apache Airflow Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull
lists.apache.org/thread/wo09vrks8189... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread/wo09vrks8189dzsot39rvrx3vnx102tt

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-49298?
CVE-2026-49298 is a security vulnerability in Apache Airflow involving Execution API JWT leaked via KubernetesExecutor worker command-line args under CWE-538: Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory.
Which Apache Airflow versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3.2.2 across affected packages: apache-airflow-core.
What version fixes CVE-2026-49298?
Upgrading to 3.2.2 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is apache-airflow-core affected?
Yes, apache-airflow-core is affected in releases prior to 3.2.2. Upgrade your dependency to 3.2.2 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-49298?
CVE-2026-49298 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-49298?
CVE-2026-49298 is classified under CWE-538: Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory (The product places sensitive information into files or directories that are accessible to actors who are allowed to have access to the files, but not to the sensitive information.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2026-49298?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show apache-airflow-core'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-5j6p-jrrm-6x94",
  "modified" : "2026-07-08T19:45:01Z",
  "published" : "2026-06-01T09:31:15Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-49298" ],
  "summary" : "Apache Airflow: Execution API JWT leaked via KubernetesExecutor worker command-line args",
  "details" : "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](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=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 `apache-airflow` to 3.2.2 or later to close the core-side surface — the two fixes are complementary, not duplicates.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "apache-airflow-core"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.2.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-49298"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/60108"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread/wo09vrks8189dzsot39rvrx3vnx102tt"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-538" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-07-08T19:45:01Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-06-01T09:16:20Z"
  }
}