CVE-2023-51702 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) CWE-312 vulnerability in apache-airflow. A fix is available for apache-airflow — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache Airflow CNCF Kubernetes provider, Apache Airflow: Kubernetes configuration file saved without encryption in the Metadata and logged as plain text in the Triggerer service
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-51702.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2023-51702 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
apache-airflow🐍apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetesReal-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
Since version 5.2.0, when using deferrable mode with the path of a Kubernetes configuration file for authentication, the Airflow worker serializes this configuration file as a dictionary and sends it to the triggerer by storing it in metadata without any encryption. Additionally, if used with an Airflow version between 2.3.0 and 2.6.0, the configuration dictionary will be logged as plain text in the triggerer service without masking. This allows anyone with access to the metadata or triggerer log to obtain the configuration file and use it to access the Kubernetes cluster.
This behavior was changed in version 7.0.0, which stopped serializing the file contents and started providing the file path instead to read the contents into the trigger. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 7.0.0, which fixes this issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | apache-airflow | ≥ 2.3.0&&< 2.6.1 | 2.6.1pip install --upgrade 'apache-airflow==2.6.1' |
| 🐍PyPI | apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes | ≥ 5.2.0&&< 7.0.0 | 7.0.0pip install --upgrade 'apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes==7.0.0' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for apache-airflow, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update apache-airflow to 2.6.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-51702 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2023-51702 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-51702. 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-2023-51702 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-51702 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.