CVE-2026-45360
Apache Airflow's scheduler-side deadline-reference decoder (`SerializedCustomReference.deserialize_reference`) imported and dispatched arbitrary class paths drawn from DAG-author-controlled serialized state without an allowlist or plugin-registry gate.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.68%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
Apache Airflow's scheduler-side deadline-reference decoder (`SerializedCustomReference.deserialize_reference`) imported and dispatched arbitrary class paths drawn from DAG-author-controlled serialized state without an allowlist or plugin-registry gate. A DAG author whose code reaches the scheduler — the default on single-host deployments where the DAG bundle is importable from the scheduler process — could embed a custom `DeadlineReference` whose serialized form named an attacker-controlled module path, causing the scheduler to `import_string(...)` and instantiate that class with a live SQLAlchemy session attached. Affects deployments where DAG-author code is less trusted than the scheduler process. Users are advised to upgrade to `apache-airflow` 3.2.2 or later.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
- EPSS
- 0.68% probability · 50th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-502
- Affected
- apache/airflow
- Source
- security@apache.org
References
- https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/66737Issue Tracking, Patch
- https://lists.apache.org/thread/q227dghjwgfz8xsxrf2pwpz4wk43zm83Mailing List, Vendor Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/31/12Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.