GHSA-2vx9-7wpg-88jq — n8n
MEDIUMGHSA-2vx9-7wpg-88jq is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.4) Path Traversal vulnerability in n8n. A fix is available for n8n — see the affected versions and patch details below.
n8n: Legacy ExecuteWorkflow Node Bypassed File Path Restrictions
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 GHSA-2vx9-7wpg-88jq.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-2vx9-7wpg-88jq by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 380,526 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
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
Impact
The ExecuteWorkflow node's localFile source option read workflow files from disk without applying checks enforced by other file-reading nodes. An authenticated user with permission to create or modify workflows could supply an arbitrary file path via the REST API, bypassing the N8N_RESTRICT_FILE_ACCESS_TO restriction. This allowed the attacker to determine whether arbitrary files exist on the server host. Where the targeted path contained a valid workflow JSON file, the file could additionally be loaded and executed, potentially triggering actions on downstream systems connected to that workflow.
The localFile source option is hidden from the n8n UI since v1.2 but remains accessible via the REST API.
Patches
The issue has been fixed in n8n version 2.20.0 or 2.19.3. Users should upgrade to this version or later to remediate the vulnerability.
Workarounds
If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations:
- Restrict workflow creation and editing permissions to fully trusted users only.
- Restrict network access to the n8n REST API to trusted users only.
These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | n8n | all versions | 2.19.3npm install n8n@2.19.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for n8n, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update n8n to 2.19.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-2vx9-7wpg-88jq is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-2vx9-7wpg-88jq in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.