Apache Airflow scheduler unsafely deserializes human-in-the-loop task next_kwargsGHSA-q4c3-7575-55j2
HIGHFix: apache/airflow#70685GHSA-q4c3-7575-55j2 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.3) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in apache-airflow. A fix is available for apache-airflow — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- 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-q4c3-7575-55j2.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-q4c3-7575-55j2 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 394,803 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
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
Apache Airflow 3.3.0 moved human-in-the-loop tasks from the triggerer to a new awaiting_input task state swept by the scheduler. That sweep deserializes the task instance's next_kwargs without an allow-list, so a Dag author — who controls that value through the task execution API — can cause an arbitrary module import and object instantiation inside the scheduler process, or terminate the scheduler job. No non-default configuration is required: the sweep runs unconditionally every 15 seconds, and the default allowed_deserialization_classes setting does not cover this code path. Versions before 3.3.0 are not affected, because human-in-the-loop tasks deferred onto the triggerer instead. This is a different code path from CVE-2026-58076, which covers the same unguarded exception-node deserialization reached elsewhere — deployments that applied that fix must upgrade for this issue as well. Users are advised to upgrade to apache-airflow 3.3.1 or later.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | apache-airflow | ≥ 3.3.0&&< 3.3.1 | 3.3.1pip install --upgrade 'apache-airflow==3.3.1' |
Affected Products
airflowapacheDetection & 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 3.3.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-q4c3-7575-55j2 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Do not deserialise data from untrusted sources: where the format allows it, restrict deserialisation to an explicit allowlist of expected types, and prefer a data-only format (JSON, Protobuf) over one that can reconstruct arbitrary objects until you can upgrade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-q4c3-7575-55j2 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.