Medium

Apache Airflow Improper Preservation of Permissions vulnerability

  • Disclosed: 26.03.2024
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 13:19

Improper Preservation of Permissions vulnerability in Apache Airflow. This issue affects Apache Airflow from 2.8.2 through 2.8.3.

Airflow's local file task handler in Airflow incorrectly set permissions for all parent folders of log folder, in default configuration adding write access to Unix group of the folders. In the case Airflow is run with the root user (not recommended) it added group write permission to all folders up to the root of the filesystem.

If your log files are stored in the home directory, these permission changes might impact your ability to run SSH operations after your home directory becomes group-writeable.

This issue does not affect users who use or extend Airflow using Official Airflow Docker reference images ( https://hub.docker.com/r/apache/airflow/ ) - those images require to have group write permission set anyway.

You are affected only if you install Airflow using local installation / virtualenv or other Docker images, but the issue has no impact if docker containers are used as intended, i.e. where Airflow components do not share containers with other applications and users.

Also you should not be affected if your umask is 002 (group write enabled) - this is the default on many linux systems.

Recommendation for users using Airflow outside of the containers:

  • if you are using root to run Airflow, change your Airflow user to use non-root
  • upgrade Apache Airflow to 2.8.4 or above
  • If you prefer not to upgrade, you can change the https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/stable/configurations-ref.html#file-task-handler-new-folder-permissions  to 0o755 (original value 0o775).
  • if you already ran Airflow tasks before and your default umask is 022 (group write disabled) you should stop Airflow components, check permissions of AIRFLOW_HOME/logs in all your components and all parent directories of this directory and remove group write access for all the parent directories

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Python (PyPI) apache-airflow >= 2.8.2, < 2.8.4 2.8.4

References

CVSS score 5.3/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-281
Platform
Python (PyPI)
Package
apache-airflow
Disclosed
26.03.2024
Updated
11.10.2026 13:19

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-cff3-5qrp-hqx7 - CC BY 4.0

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - PYSEC-2026-1132 - PyPA Advisory Database; CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: apache-airflow

All published vulnerabilities of this package (Python (PyPI)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

All (158) in the archive
Total entries
158
First → latest
08.2018 09.2026
Without a fix
4
Exploited in attacks
2

Severity breakdown

  • Critical 16
  • High 49
  • Medium 86
  • Low 7

Disclosures per year

  1. 2018: 1
  2. 2019: 8
  3. 2020: 12
  4. 2021: 5
  5. 2022: 16
  6. 2023: 31
  7. 2024: 18
  8. 2025: 6
  9. 2026: 61
Severity:
  1. High · 7.3 CVE-2026-45360 >= 3.2.0, < 3.2.2 3.2.2
  2. High · 7.5 CVE-2026-31987 >= 3.0.0, < 3.2.0 3.2.0
  3. High · 8.1 CVE-2025-54550 < 3.2.0 3.2.0
  4. Critical · 9.1 CVE-2025-57735 >= 3.0.0, < 3.2.0 3.2.0
  5. High · 7.5 CVE-2025-68675 >= 3.0.0b1, < 3.1.6, < 2.11.1 3.1.6, 2.11.1
  6. High · 8.8 CVE-2024-45498 >= 2.10.0, < 2.10.1 2.10.1
  7. High · 8.8 CVE-2024-45034 < 2.10.1 2.10.1
  8. High · 8.8 CVE-2024-39877 >= 2.4.0, < 2.9.3 2.9.3
  9. Apache Airflow Improper Preservation of Permissions vulnerability this entry
    Medium · 5.3 CVE-2024-29735 >= 2.8.2, < 2.8.4 2.8.4
Show more (20) Showing 40 of 66

Know which vulnerabilities affect your application

With the DockRay integration and software inventory enabled, DockRay checks reported component versions against known vulnerabilities and notifies you about confirmed matches. Coverage depends on the supported technology and available advisory data.

Connect your application
DockRay newsletter

Application security in your inbox

Important vulnerabilities, actionable guidance and practical advice for your applications. Choose your technologies and follow what matters to your project.

  • A daily digest of new vulnerabilities, critical ones included.
  • Notifications about important updates.
  • Practical advice on application security and monitoring.

Leave empty to receive updates for every technology.

Free to subscribe. Unsubscribe with one click in any email.