CVE-2026-65016
CVE-2026-65016 is a CWE-639 vulnerability in n8n. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2026-65016 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
n8n before 1.123.64, 2.29.8, and 2.30.1 Privilege Escalation via SSO Instance-Role
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- 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-2026-65016.
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.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
n8nnpmDescription
n8n versions before 1.123.64, 2.29.8, and 2.30.1 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability in Enterprise SSO instance-role provisioning. The provisioning path maps an IdP-asserted role claim to an n8n global role but does not prevent assignment of the global:owner role (unlike the token-exchange identity path, which rejects it). An SSO-authenticated user whose instance-role claim resolves to global:owner is provisioned as instance owner, gaining full administrative control over workflows, credentials, users, and instance configuration. Exploitation requires that Enterprise SSO is configured, instance-role provisioning is enabled via N8N_SSO_SCOPES_PROVISION_INSTANCE_ROLE (disabled by default), and the attacker controls the instance-role claim value issued by the IdP.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | n8n | all versions | 1.123.64 |
| 📦npm | n8n | ≥ 2.30.0&&< 2.30.1 | 2.30.1 |
| 📦npm | n8n | ≥ 2.0.0-rc.0&&< 2.29.8 | 2.29.8 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for n8n. 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 n8n to 1.123.64 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-65016 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-2026-65016 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-2026-65016. 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-2026-65016 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2026-65016 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.