---
id: CVE-2023-51702
title: >-
  Since version 5.2.0, when using deferrable mode with the path of a Kubernetes
  configuration file for authentication, the Airflow worker serializes this
  configuration file as a dictionary and sends it to the triggerer by storing it
  in met…
summary: >-
  Since version 5.2.0, when using deferrable mode with the path of a Kubernetes
  configuration file for authentication, the Airflow worker serializes this
  configuration file as a dictionary and sends it to the triggerer by storing it
  in met…
severity: medium
cvss: 6.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N'
cwe:
  - CWE-312
  - CWE-532
vendor: apache
product: airflow
affected:
  - 'airflow >= 2.3.0, < 2.6.1'
  - 'apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes >= 5.2.0, < 7.0.0'
patched:
  - airflow 2.6.1
  - apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes 7.0.0
published: '2024-01-24'
updated: '2026-07-02'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-51702'
references:
  - url: 'http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/01/24/3'
    label: security@apache.org
  - url: 'https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/29498'
    label: security@apache.org
  - url: 'https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/30110'
    label: security@apache.org
  - url: 'https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/36492'
    label: security@apache.org
  - url: 'https://lists.apache.org/thread/89x3q6lz5pykrkr1fkr04k4rfn9pvnv9'
    label: security@apache.org
  - url: 'http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/01/24/3'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/29498'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/30110'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/36492'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://lists.apache.org/thread/89x3q6lz5pykrkr1fkr04k4rfn9pvnv9'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.00385
epssPercentile: 0.29681
ingestedAt: '2026-07-02T17:40:39.271Z'
---

## Overview

Since version 5.2.0, when using deferrable mode with the path of a Kubernetes configuration file for authentication, the Airflow worker serializes this configuration file as a dictionary and sends it to the triggerer by storing it in metadata without any encryption. Additionally, if used with an Airflow version between 2.3.0 and 2.6.0, the configuration dictionary will be logged as plain text in the triggerer service without masking. This allows anyone with access to the metadata or triggerer log to obtain the configuration file and use it to access the Kubernetes cluster.

This behavior was changed in version 7.0.0, which stopped serializing the file contents and started providing the file path instead to read the contents into the trigger. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 7.0.0, which fixes this issue.

## Affected

- `airflow >= 2.3.0, < 2.6.1`
- `apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes >= 5.2.0, < 7.0.0`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `airflow 2.6.1`
- `apache-airflow-providers-cncf-kubernetes 7.0.0`