---
id: CVE-2026-45360
aliases:
  - GHSA-2r5m-76wx-56gx
  - BIT-airflow-2026-45360
  - PYSEC-2026-186
title: Apache Airflow Vulnerable to Deserialization of Untrusted Data
summary: Apache Airflow Vulnerable to Deserialization of Untrusted Data
severity: high
cvss: 7.3
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L'
vendor: apache-airflow
product: apache-airflow
ecosystem: pip
affected:
  - 'apache-airflow >= 3.2.0, < 3.2.2'
patched:
  - apache-airflow 3.2.2
published: '2026-06-01'
updated: '2026-09-10'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-10T03:51:07.640450880Z'
source: OSV
sourceUrl: 'https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-2r5m-76wx-56gx'
references:
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45360'
  - url: 'https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/61461'
  - url: 'https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/66737'
  - url: 'https://github.com/apache/airflow'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/apache-airflow/PYSEC-2026-186.yaml
  - url: 'https://lists.apache.org/thread/q227dghjwgfz8xsxrf2pwpz4wk43zm83'
  - url: 'http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/31/12'
tags:
  - osv
  - pip
epss: 0.00676
epssPercentile: 0.50835
ingestedAt: '2026-07-10T13:49:10.376Z'
---

## Overview

Apache Airflow's scheduler-side deadline-reference decoder (`SerializedCustomReference.deserialize_reference`) imported and dispatched arbitrary class paths drawn from DAG-author-controlled serialized state without an allowlist or plugin-registry gate. A DAG author whose code reaches the scheduler — the default on single-host deployments where the DAG bundle is importable from the scheduler process — could embed a custom `DeadlineReference` whose serialized form named an attacker-controlled module path, causing the scheduler to `import_string(...)` and instantiate that class with a live SQLAlchemy session attached. Affects deployments where DAG-author code is less trusted than the scheduler process. Users are advised to upgrade to `apache-airflow` 3.2.2 or later.

## Affected packages

- `apache-airflow >= 3.2.0, < 3.2.2`

## Remediation

Upgrade to a patched release:

- `apache-airflow 3.2.2`