CVE-2026-59245: Airflow FAB Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2026-59245 Overview

CVE-2026-59245 is a privilege escalation vulnerability in the Apache Airflow Flask App Builder (FAB) auth manager. A resource-name collision in the resource_name() function causes a DAG whose dag_id equals DAGs to overlap with the global all-DAGs permission resource. When an administrator grants a lower-privileged user per-DAG access_control on a DAG named DAGs, the FAB auth manager silently applies the global all-DAGs permission instead. That user gains read and edit access across every DAG in the environment. The issue affects deployments using apache-airflow-providers-fab prior to version 3.7.2 [CWE-269].

Critical Impact
A user granted access to a single DAG named DAGs obtains read/edit privileges over every DAG in the Airflow deployment, enabling workflow manipulation and data pipeline compromise.

Affected Products

Apache Airflow deployments using apache-airflow-providers-fab prior to version 3.7.2
FAB auth manager configurations with per-DAG access_control enabled
Airflow instances where DAG creation is permitted by non-administrator users

Discovery Timeline

2026-07-13 - CVE-2026-59245 published to NVD
2026-07-14 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-59245

Vulnerability Analysis

Apache Airflow's FAB auth manager derives permission resource names for DAGs using the resource_name() helper. The function is intended to produce a unique string per DAG, but the resulting name for a DAG whose dag_id is the literal string DAGs collides with the constant used to represent the global all-DAGs permission. This collision breaks the authorization model that separates per-DAG grants from environment-wide DAG administration.

When an administrator assigns per-DAG access_control on the DAGs DAG to a lower-privileged role, the underlying FAB permission record maps to the global resource. Every subsequent authorization check for any DAG resolves against the same record and returns success for that user. The result is silent horizontal and vertical privilege escalation without any indicator in the UI that the grant applied globally.

Root Cause

The root cause is an input-validation and namespacing defect in resource_name(). The function does not reserve or escape the DAGs identifier, allowing a user-controlled dag_id to shadow the framework's own permission resource. This is a classic improper privilege management issue [CWE-269] rooted in a string-identifier collision between user data and system constants.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires two preconditions: a DAG named DAGs must exist in the environment, and an administrator must grant a lower-privileged user per-DAG access to it. Once granted, the user can invoke any DAG operation the global permission covers, including listing, reading, and editing all DAGs. The attack does not require crafted network payloads or authentication bypass; it abuses the intended permission-assignment workflow. See the Apache Airflow pull request 69106 and the Apache mailing list advisory for the corrected resource-naming logic.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-59245

Indicators of Compromise

Presence of a DAG with dag_id equal to DAGs in the Airflow metadata database
FAB permission records where a per-DAG grant resolves to the global all-DAGs resource
Non-administrator users viewing, editing, or triggering DAGs outside their intended scope
Unexpected DAG runs or configuration changes initiated by low-privileged accounts

Detection Strategies

Query the Airflow metadata database for DAGs matching the reserved name DAGs and audit associated FAB permission assignments
Review the ab_permission_view_role table for role-permission mappings that reference the all-DAGs resource unexpectedly
Correlate webserver audit logs with role assignments to identify users accessing DAGs outside their granted list

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable Airflow audit logging and forward webserver and scheduler logs to a centralized SIEM for role and permission analytics
Alert on creation of DAGs whose dag_id matches reserved framework strings, including DAGs
Monitor changes to FAB role definitions and per-DAG access_control blocks in DAG source files

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-59245

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade apache-airflow-providers-fab to version 3.7.2 or later, which disambiguates the resource-name collision
Enumerate existing DAGs and rename any DAG whose dag_id is DAGs prior to upgrade
Audit all users granted per-DAG access_control on a DAG named DAGs and revoke inappropriate privileges

Patch Information

The fix is delivered in apache-airflow-providers-fab 3.7.2. The corrected resource_name() logic prevents user-supplied dag_id values from colliding with the global all-DAGs permission resource. Patch details are available in the Apache Airflow GitHub pull request and the Openwall OSS-Security announcement.

Workarounds

Prohibit creation of any DAG with dag_id equal to DAGs through pre-deployment linting or CI checks
Remove per-DAG access_control grants on any DAG named DAGs until the provider is upgraded
Restrict DAG file authoring to trusted operators to prevent introduction of collision-triggering DAG identifiers

bash

# Upgrade the FAB provider to the patched release
pip install --upgrade 'apache-airflow-providers-fab>=3.7.2'

# Identify any DAG that would trigger the collision
airflow dags list | awk '$1 == "DAGs" {print}'