CVE-2025-27555: Apache Airflow Information Disclosure Flaw

CVE-2025-27555 Overview

CVE-2025-27555 is an Information Exposure vulnerability affecting Apache Airflow versions prior to 2.11.1. This flaw allows authenticated users with audit log access to view sensitive connection parameters that should remain protected. When administrators configure sensitive connection parameters via the Airflow CLI, these values are inadvertently recorded in audit logs and stored unencrypted in the Airflow database, potentially exposing credentials and other sensitive configuration data to unauthorized viewing.

Critical Impact

Authenticated users with audit log access can view sensitive connection parameters including credentials, API keys, and other confidential configuration values stored unencrypted in the database.

Affected Products

• Apache Airflow versions prior to 2.11.1
• Airflow installations where connections were configured via CLI
• Environments with multi-user audit log access

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-24 - CVE-2025-27555 published to NVD
• 2026-02-24 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-27555

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability falls under CWE-201 (Insertion of Sensitive Information Into Sent Data) and CWE-532 (Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File). The core issue lies in how Apache Airflow handles sensitive connection parameters when configured through the command-line interface.

When administrators use the Airflow CLI to set up connections containing sensitive values such as database passwords, API keys, or authentication tokens, the application fails to properly redact these values before writing them to the audit log. This results in plaintext sensitive data being stored in the database's audit log table, accessible to any authenticated user with permission to view audit logs.

This vulnerability is related to but distinct from CVE-2024-50378, indicating a pattern of sensitive data handling issues within the Airflow audit logging subsystem.

Root Cause

The root cause stems from insufficient input sanitization in the audit logging mechanism. When CLI commands are executed to configure connections, the logging function captures the full command including all parameters without applying redaction rules for sensitive fields. The sensitive values are then persisted to the database in cleartext, bypassing any encryption or masking that might be applied to the connection storage itself.

Attack Vector

An attacker exploiting this vulnerability would need:

1. Valid authentication credentials for the Apache Airflow instance
2. Permissions to access the audit log functionality
3. Knowledge that sensitive connections were configured via CLI

Once these conditions are met, the attacker can browse historical audit logs to discover sensitive connection parameters that were set by administrators, potentially gaining access to database credentials, cloud service API keys, or other sensitive authentication material.

The vulnerability requires network access to the Airflow web interface and authenticated low-privilege access, but does not require any user interaction to exploit. Successful exploitation results in confidentiality breach through exposure of sensitive configuration data.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-27555

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or excessive audit log access patterns by non-administrator users
• Queries or exports of audit log tables containing connection-related entries
• Access to audit log endpoints from unexpected IP addresses or user accounts
• Database queries targeting the log table with filters for connection-related commands

Detection Strategies

• Monitor access patterns to audit log endpoints for anomalous behavior
• Implement alerting on bulk audit log queries or exports
• Review database access logs for direct queries against audit/log tables
• Audit user permissions to identify over-privileged accounts with unnecessary audit log access

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed access logging for the Airflow web interface, particularly audit log pages
• Configure alerts for audit log access by users outside the security operations team
• Implement periodic review of users with audit log permissions
• Monitor for CLI command execution patterns that may indicate connection configuration activity

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-27555

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade Apache Airflow to version 2.11.1 or later immediately
• Review and restrict audit log access permissions to essential personnel only
• Manually audit the log table for entries containing sensitive connection values
• Rotate any credentials that may have been exposed in audit logs
• Consider using environment variables or secrets backends instead of CLI for sensitive connections

Patch Information

Apache has addressed this vulnerability in Airflow version 2.11.1. The fix implements proper redaction of sensitive connection parameters before they are written to audit logs. Organizations should upgrade to 2.11.1 or later to receive this security fix.

For additional details, refer to the Apache Mailing List Discussion and the GitHub Pull Request containing the fix.

Workarounds

• Restrict audit log access permissions to minimize the number of users who can view potentially exposed data
• Manually delete audit log entries containing sensitive connection values from the log table
• Configure connections using the web UI or secrets backends rather than CLI to avoid logging sensitive values
• Implement database-level encryption for the audit log table as an additional layer of protection
• Consider deploying a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to monitor and restrict access to audit log endpoints

# Configuration example - Delete sensitive entries from audit logs
# WARNING: Backup your database before running cleanup queries

# Connect to your Airflow database and identify sensitive entries
airflow db shell

# Query to identify potentially sensitive audit log entries (example for PostgreSQL)
# SELECT * FROM log WHERE event LIKE '%connection%' AND dttm < '2026-02-24';

# After identifying entries, delete them carefully
# DELETE FROM log WHERE id IN (SELECT id FROM log WHERE event LIKE '%connection%password%');

# Rotate credentials after cleanup
airflow connections delete <connection_id>
airflow connections add <connection_id> --conn-uri <new_sanitized_uri>