CVE-2026-86081

Undergoing Analysis Undergoing Analysis - In Progress

ReDoS in n8n Workflow Automation Platform

Publication date: 2026-09-08

Last updated on: 2026-09-09

Assigner: GitHub, Inc.

Description

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to 1.123.76, 2.37.7, and 2.38.2, the Git node clone operation matched an attacker-controlled destination path against the default N8N_BLOCK_FILE_PATTERNS regular expression. The pattern ^(./).git(/.)$ allowed catastrophic backtracking and ran synchronously in the main n8n process. An authenticated workflow editor could therefore freeze the instance with one workflow execution; the affected default is declared in packages/@n8n/config/src/configs/security.config.ts. This issue is fixed in versions 1.123.76, 2.37.7 and 2.38.2.

CVSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-09-08

Last Modified

2026-09-09

Generated

2026-09-29

AI Q&A

2026-09-10

EPSS Evaluated

2026-09-27

NVD

CVE-2026-86081

EUVD

EUVD-2026-74275

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
n8n	n8n	to 1.123.76 (inc)
n8n	n8n	to 2.37.7 (inc)
n8n	n8n	to 2.38.2 (inc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-1333	The product uses a regular expression with an inefficient, possibly exponential worst-case computational complexity that consumes excessive CPU cycles.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-86081 is a Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) vulnerability in the n8n automation tool. It occurs in the Git node's clone operation where a crafted path triggers catastrophic backtracking in the default blocked-file-pattern matching expression. This causes the main n8n process to freeze, denying service to all users.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by checking the version of n8n installed on your system. If the version is prior to 1.123.76, 2.37.7, or 2.38.2, the system is vulnerable. Use commands like 'n8n --version' or check the package manager for installed versions.

Impact Analysis

An authenticated workflow editor could exploit this vulnerability to freeze the entire n8n instance with a single workflow execution. This denial of service affects all users of the instance, as the main process becomes unresponsive. The attack requires low privileges and no user interaction, and can be executed over the network.

Mitigation Strategies

Immediately upgrade n8n to version 1.123.76, 2.37.7, or 2.38.2 or later. As temporary mitigations, restrict instance access, disable the Git node, or replace the vulnerable pattern in the security configuration.

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