CVE-2026-49298
HIGHDescription
A bug in Apache Airflow's KubernetesExecutor caused JWT tokens used by worker pods to authenticate against the Execution API to be passed to the worker container as command-line arguments visible in the pod spec. An authenticated UI/API user with Kubernetes read-only access to the cluster (e.g. `pods/get` in the Airflow namespace) could harvest the JWT from `kubectl describe pod` output and then call state-mutating Execution API endpoints — triggering Dag runs, clearing runs, reading or writing Variables / Connections / XComs — as if they were a running task. Affects deployments using the `KubernetesExecutor`. Users are advised to upgrade to `apache-airflow` 3.2.2 or later. This is the airflow-core half of the same vulnerability addressed by CVE-2026-27173, which shipped the apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes side of the fix. Deployments that already upgraded `apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes` to 10.17.0 or later per the CVE-2026-27173 advisory should additionally upgrade `apache-airflow` to 3.2.2 or later to close the core-side surface — the two fixes are complementary, not duplicates.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 39% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-538 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2024-51977 | Medium | 5.3 | 78% | - | - |
| CVE-2019-6851 | High | 7.5 | 30% | - | - |
| CVE-2017-9947 | Medium | 5.3 | 7.3% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2018-11798 | Medium | 6.5 | 4.9% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-16770 | Medium | 6.5 | 1.8% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2018-10590 | High | 7.5 | 1.7% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2026-49298?
Upgrade airflow to 3.2.2 or later.
Is CVE-2026-49298 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2026-49298 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.49% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 39% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2026-49298?
CVE-2026-49298 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.8, rated high. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2026-49298 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for airflow (NVD). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-07-21.