IRONSMITHINTEL
HIGHCVSS8.8
|
Actively Exploited
|CISA KEV|CVE-2020-11978|Auth: low — authenticated user|Reboot: required|Manual only

Apache Airflow Command Injection

A remote code/command injection vulnerability was discovered in one of the example DAGs shipped with Airflow.

Published Jul 17, 2020 · Updated May 16, 2026
Why patchRisk explained in plain English
Worst-case scenarioIf unpatched

A remote attacker, with a low-privilege account, can achieve full data confidentiality loss, arbitrary modification of data, complete denial of service or system unavailability. Federal agencies are required to remediate by 2022-07-18 under CISA BOD 22-01.

How the attack worksNo clicks needed

This is a OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Apache Airflow. An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. A remote code/command injection vulnerability was discovered in one of the example DAGs shipped with Airflow which would allow any authenticated user to run arbitrary commands as the user running airflow worker/scheduler (depending on the executor in use). If you already have examples disabled by setting load_examples=False in the config then you are not vulnerable. Exploitation requires remote network access, low attack complexity, a low-privilege authenticated account, and no user interaction required.

Am I affected?Quick check

Probably yes if any of these apply:

IT Security
Running airflow: v < 1.10.11
Real-world incidentsWhat we've seen

Active exploitation documented in the wild. Threat-research write-up: http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162908/Apache-Airflow-1.10.10-Remote-Code-Execution.html

How to patch

Manual remediation steps

Apply the Vendor Patch

This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog — apply the vendor's security update as soon as possible.

CISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

References

    1
    Vendor advisory: https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r7255cf0be3566f23a768e2a04b40fb09e52fcd1872695428ba9afe91%40%3Cusers.airflow.apache.org%3E
    1
    NVD entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-11978
    1
    CISA KEV: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-11978
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