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Apache Airflow has a Link Following issue

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jun 1, 2026 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Jul 9, 2026

Package

pip apache-airflow (pip)

Affected versions

< 3.2.2

Patched versions

3.2.2

Description

A Dag author could either (a) create a symlink under their task's log directory pointing to an arbitrary file readable by the API server process (read-path attack — e.g. /etc/passwd or airflow.cfg) or (b) supply a task_id containing .. sequences accepted by the Task SDK's KEY_REGEX (write-path attack), and in both cases the FileTaskHandler resolves the log path outside the configured base_log_folder, leaking or overwriting arbitrary files. Only affects deployments where the worker log folder is shared with the API server. Users are advised to upgrade to apache-airflow 3.2.2 or later. As a defense-in-depth mitigation, deploy the worker and API server with separate log volumes so that worker-controlled paths cannot reach the API server's filesystem.

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Jun 1, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jun 1, 2026
Reviewed Jul 9, 2026
Last updated Jul 9, 2026

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(47th percentile)

Weaknesses

Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-40861

GHSA ID

GHSA-89cj-xrpx-j79m

Source code

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