CVE-2026-111421Apache Airflow deserialization of untrusted data
CVE-2026-111421 is a deserialization of untrusted data in Apache Airflow, rated high (8.8 on CVSS 3.1).
Why this priority: High severity, with no exploitation signal yet.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Awaiting Analysis
What it is
Serialized objects from outside are turned back into live objects, which a crafted payload can abuse to run code.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it over the network, with an ordinary user account, and nobody has to click anything.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can read the data it protects, change data or behaviour and take it offline. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker turn crafted data into code execution inside the receiving service.
Is it being exploited?
There is no public report of exploitation yet.
What to do
- Upgrade Apache Airflow to 3.4.0 or later.
- Until it is patched, review who holds accounts that can reach it.
Description from NVD
Apache Airflow's Task Execution API stored XCom values written by a task without the reserved-key check applied elsewhere, so a Dag author's task could write an XCom that, when a user later viewed it through the API with deserialization enabled, made the API server instantiate classes from the `airflow.*` namespace with arguments the Dag author chose. This is an incomplete fix for CVE-2026-59242: users who applied that fix in apache-airflow 3.3.1 remain affected through this route and should upgrade to apache-airflow 3.4.0 or later.
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- APIs, queues and caches that accept serialized objects. The flaw sits between a message producer and the service that deserializes it.
Trust boundaries in play
- Authenticated network access. An account is needed, so exposure follows who can sign in: customers, partners or staff.
- Between a message producer and the service that deserializes it. An attacker who crosses it can turn crafted data into code execution inside the receiving service.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does Apache Airflow run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those instances can be reached from the internet or partner networks?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.