CVE-2026-68076

Analyzed Analyzed - Analysis Complete

Apache Airflow Team-Scoped Secrets Exposure via Environment Variables

Publication date: 2026-08-12

Last updated on: 2026-08-14

Assigner: Apache Software Foundation

Description

Apache Airflow's environment-variable secrets backend resolved a team-scoped Connection or Variable from the wrong team's scope. The guard meant to prevent this only ran when no team scope was supplied, and its pattern could not match a team name containing an underscore, which team names are allowed to contain. When the guard did not apply, the lookup fell through to an unconditional global read that resolved the stored `AIRFLOW_CONN__<TEAM>___<ID>` variable regardless of which team asked. In multi-team mode an authenticated user of one team could therefore have `POST /api/v2/connections/test` resolve another team's Connection and authenticate outward with that team's credentials; the endpoint uses the credentials rather than returning them. Exploitation requires `[core] multi_team` enabled, `[core] test_connection` set to `Enabled` (it ships `Disabled`), team-scoped secrets provisioned as environment variables in the API-server process, and knowledge of the encoded identifier. Redirecting the test at an attacker-controlled host is separately blocked. Users are advised to upgrade to apache-airflow 3.3.1 or later.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-08-12

Last Modified

2026-08-14

Generated

2026-09-02

AI Q&A

2026-08-12

EPSS Evaluated

2026-08-31

NVD

CVE-2026-68076

EUVD

EUVD-2026-57265

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
apache	airflow	to 3.3.1 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-639	The system's authorization functionality does not prevent one user from gaining access to another user's data or record by modifying the key value identifying the data.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

Apache Airflow's environment-variable secrets backend had a flaw where a guard preventing cross-team access only worked if no team scope was provided and failed for team names with underscores. This allowed an authenticated user from one team to resolve and test another team's Connection, potentially authenticating with that team's credentials. The issue occurred because the system defaulted to a global read of environment variables like AIRFLOW_CONN__<TEAM>___<ID> without proper team scoping.

Detection Guidance

Check Apache Airflow version with: airflow version. If version is below 3.3.1, the system is vulnerable. Review configuration for [core] multi_team enabled and [core] test_connection set to Enabled. Inspect environment variables for team-scoped secrets like AIRFLOW_CONN__<TEAM>___<ID>.

Impact Analysis

If you use Apache Airflow in multi-team mode with team-scoped secrets and test_connection enabled, an attacker with access to one team could test and authenticate using another team's credentials. This requires knowledge of the encoded identifier but could lead to unauthorized access to resources or data belonging to other teams.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, violating confidentiality requirements in GDPR and HIPAA. It undermines access controls and data segregation, potentially resulting in non-compliance with data protection regulations that mandate strict access boundaries and protection of personal or health information.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade Apache Airflow to version 3.3.1 or later immediately. Disable [core] multi_team if not required. Set [core] test_connection to Disabled. Remove team-scoped secrets from environment variables in the API-server process. Restart the Airflow service after changes.

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