CVE-2022-40954
MEDIUMCVE-2022-40954 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) OS Command Injection vulnerability in apache-airflow. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2022-40954 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Apache Airflow Spark Provider RCE that bypass restrictions to read arbitrary files
Blast Radius
apache-airflowReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') vulnerability in Apache Airflow Spark Provider, Apache Airflow allows an attacker to read arbtrary files in the task execution context, without write access to DAG files. This issue affects Spark Provider versions prior to 4.0.0. It also impacts any Apache Airflow versions prior to 2.3.0 in case Spark Provider is installed (Spark Provider 4.0.0 can only be installed for Airflow 2.3.0+). Note that you need to manually install the Spark Provider version 4.0.0 in order to get rid of the vulnerability on top of Airflow 2.3.0+ version that has lower version of the Spark Provider installed).
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | apache-airflow | all versions | 2.3.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for apache-airflow. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update apache-airflow to 2.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-40954 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2022-40954 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2022-40954. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2022-40954 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2022-40954 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.