Apache Airflow's serialization layer reconstructed exception nodes by calling `import_string()` on a class name taken from the serialized blob and instantiating it with arguments from the same blob, with no restriction on what could be imported. An operator's `executor_config` reaches that branch, so a Dag author could place a value there that causes an arbitrary callable to be imported and invoked -- for example `subprocess.check_output`, or `builtins.eval` on the `builtins`-prefixed variant. The code runs in the **Scheduler**, which reconstructs serialized Dags in its normal loop with no request involved, and in the **API server**, on any authenticated read of the Dag such as `GET /api/v2/dags/{dag_id}/details`. Both are components the Airflow security model states must never execute Dag-author code, and both hold the metadata database credentials and the JWT signing secret. No non-default configuration is required. This is a **different sink from CVE-2026-33264**, which covered only the trigger branch of the same deserializer: deployments that upgraded in response to that advisory are still affected through the exception branch and must upgrade again. Users are advised to upgrade to apache-airflow 3.3.1 or later, which restricts the imported class to a subclass of `BaseException`.
References
| Link | Resource |
|---|---|
| https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/68511 | Issue Tracking Patch |
| https://lists.apache.org/thread/t81p688t15jozxsng8521o60nh2kfsos | Mailing List Vendor Advisory |
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-33264 | Not Applicable |
Configurations
History
No history.
Information
Published : 2026-08-12 16:17
Updated : 2026-09-16 15:17
NVD link : CVE-2026-58076
Mitre link : CVE-2026-58076
CVE.ORG link : CVE-2026-58076
JSON object : View
Products Affected
apache
- airflow
CWE
CWE-502
Deserialization of Untrusted Data
