CVE-2026-68969
Apache Airflow: Bulk Variable and Connection endpoints record secret values in the audit log in cleartext
Description
Apache Airflow wrote Variable values and Connection `extra` contents to the audit log in cleartext when they were submitted through the bulk endpoints (`PATCH /api/v2/variables` and `PATCH /api/v2/connections`). The audit-log masking recognised only top-level request fields, and a bulk request nests its entities two levels below, so no masking was applied to them. Any authenticated user with audit-log read access -- who need not hold Variables or Connections read at all -- could recover those secrets verbatim, and the Connection `extra` copy is stored unencrypted in the log while the connection table encrypts it. The Airflow UI's *Import Variables* action posts to this endpoint, so an ordinary operator import wrote every secret in the file to the log. This is a different code path from CVE-2026-50204: that fix shipped in 3.3.0 and covers the single-entity endpoints only, so deployments that upgraded in response to that advisory remain affected and must upgrade again. Users are advised to upgrade to apache-airflow 3.3.1 or later.
INFO
Published Date :
Aug. 12, 2026, 4:17 p.m.
Last Modified :
Aug. 12, 2026, 4:17 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
[email protected]
Solution
- Upgrade Apache Airflow to version 3.3.1 or later.
- Apply necessary configuration changes for logging.
- Review audit logs for potential past exposure.
- Restrict audit log read access where possible.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-68969.
| URL | Resource |
|---|---|
| https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/70890 | |
| https://lists.apache.org/thread/p3jr90jgp2brto4vwcrx680f3x11y70c | |
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-50204 |
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-68969 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-68969
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-68969 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-68969 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
New CVE Received by [email protected]
Aug. 12, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Affected [{'vendor': 'Apache Software Foundation', 'product': 'Apache Airflow', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '3.3.1', 'versionType': 'semver'}], 'packageName': 'apache-airflow', 'collectionURL': 'https://pypi.python.org', 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}] Added Description Apache Airflow wrote Variable values and Connection `extra` contents to the audit log in cleartext when they were submitted through the bulk endpoints (`PATCH /api/v2/variables` and `PATCH /api/v2/connections`). The audit-log masking recognised only top-level request fields, and a bulk request nests its entities two levels below, so no masking was applied to them. Any authenticated user with audit-log read access -- who need not hold Variables or Connections read at all -- could recover those secrets verbatim, and the Connection `extra` copy is stored unencrypted in the log while the connection table encrypts it. The Airflow UI's *Import Variables* action posts to this endpoint, so an ordinary operator import wrote every secret in the file to the log. This is a different code path from CVE-2026-50204: that fix shipped in 3.3.0 and covers the single-entity endpoints only, so deployments that upgraded in response to that advisory remain affected and must upgrade again. Users are advised to upgrade to apache-airflow 3.3.1 or later. Added CWE CWE-532 Added Reference https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/70890 Added Reference https://lists.apache.org/thread/p3jr90jgp2brto4vwcrx680f3x11y70c Added Reference https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-50204