CVE-2019-12417: Airflow Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-q3p4-gw7r-wqjc
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CVSS 4.8
CWE-79
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2019-12417 is a MODERATE (CVSS 4.8) cross-site scripting vulnerability (CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')) affecting Airflow libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves apache airflow vulnerable to xss and local file disclosure. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.10.6.

CVE-2019-12417 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2019-12417
GHSA Identifier GHSA-q3p4-gw7r-wqjc
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 4.8
CWE Classification CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Affected Product Airflow
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 4.8

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

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

How to Fix CVE-2019-12417

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected 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.

airflow fixed: 1.10.6 
pip install airflow>=1.10.6
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 airflow

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2019-12417, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show airflow

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Airflow in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.10.6), your application is affected.

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

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting'), where the product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users. In 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 malicious admin user could edit the state of objects in the Airflow metadata database to execute arbitrary javascript on certain page views. This also presented a Local File Disclosure vulnerability to any file readable by the webserver process.

CVE-2019-12417 Affected Airflow Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.10.6
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
airflow
pypi/airflow
PyPI
< 1.10.6
1.10.6

References

NVD — CVE-2019-12417 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-12417
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/apache/airflow/commit/caf1f264b845153b9a61b00b1a57acb7c320e743
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-q3p4-gw7r-wqjc
Airflow Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/apache/airflow
Airflow Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/apache-airflow/PYSEC-2019-216.yaml
lists.apache.org/thread.html/f3aa5ff... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/f3aa5ff9c7cdb5424b6463c9013f6cf5db83d26c66ea77130cbbe1bc@%3Cusers.airflow.apache.org%3E

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2019-12417?
CVE-2019-12417 is a security vulnerability in Airflow involving Apache Airflow vulnerable to XSS and local file disclosure under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting').
Which Airflow versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.10.6 across affected packages: airflow.
What version fixes CVE-2019-12417?
Upgrading to 1.10.6 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is airflow affected?
Yes, airflow is affected in releases prior to 1.10.6. Upgrade your dependency to 1.10.6 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-12417?
CVE-2019-12417 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.8 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2019-12417?
CVE-2019-12417 is classified under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') (The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2019-12417?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show airflow'. 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-q3p4-gw7r-wqjc",
  "modified" : "2024-09-11T17:09:15Z",
  "published" : "2019-11-22T13:45:22Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2019-12417" ],
  "summary" : "Apache Airflow vulnerable to XSS and local file disclosure",
  "details" : "A malicious admin user could edit the state of objects in the Airflow metadata database to execute arbitrary javascript on certain page views. This also presented a Local File Disclosure vulnerability to any file readable by the webserver process.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "airflow"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.10.6"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-12417"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apache/airflow/commit/caf1f264b845153b9a61b00b1a57acb7c320e743"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-q3p4-gw7r-wqjc"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apache/airflow"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/apache-airflow/PYSEC-2019-216.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/f3aa5ff9c7cdb5424b6463c9013f6cf5db83d26c66ea77130cbbe1bc@%3Cusers.airflow.apache.org%3E"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-79" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2019-11-21T04:09:18Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}