CVE-2025-57760: Langflow: privilege escalation to full superuser via CLI

GHSA-4gv9-mp8m-592r HIGH PoC AVAILABLE CISA: ATTEND
Published August 25, 2025
CISO Take

Any authenticated Langflow user with code execution access — trivially obtained via Langflow's built-in Python execution nodes — can self-promote to superuser with a single CLI command, gaining full platform control. Patch immediately to langflow 1.5.1 / langflow-base 0.5.1; this is a one-step escalation with no exploitation complexity. Until patched, restrict Langflow to internal networks, audit all superuser accounts for unauthorized entries, and rotate all stored API keys.

What is the risk?

High effective risk despite low EPSS (0.014%). CVSS 8.8 (Network/Low Complexity/Low Privileges) accurately reflects the trivial exploit path: Langflow's core design includes Python code execution nodes that grant every authenticated user a built-in RCE primitive, collapsing the privilege requirement to near-zero in practice. Internet-exposed Langflow instances — common in AI dev teams — are fully compromised by any registered user. No active exploitation detected yet, but weaponization requires minimal skill.

What systems are affected?

Package Ecosystem Vulnerable Range Patched
Langflow pip No patch
149.9K Pushed 3d ago 40% patched ~67d to patch Full package profile →
Langflow pip <= 1.5.0 1.5.1
149.9K Pushed 3d ago 40% patched ~67d to patch Full package profile →
Langflow pip <= 0.5.0 0.5.1
149.9K Pushed 3d ago 40% patched ~67d to patch Full package profile →

How severe is it?

CVSS 3.1
8.8 / 10
EPSS
0.4%
chance of exploitation in 30 days
Higher than 35% of all CVEs
Exploitation Status
Exploit Available
Exploitation: MEDIUM
Sophistication
Trivial
Exploitation Confidence
medium
CISA SSVC: Public PoC
Public PoC indexed (trickest/cve)
Composite signal derived from CISA KEV, VulnCheck KEV, CISA SSVC, EPSS, Metasploit, Exploit-DB, trickest/cve, Nuclei templates, and inthewild.io exploitation reports.

What is the attack surface?

AV AC PR UI S C I A
AV Network
AC Low
PR Low
UI None
S Unchanged
C High
I High
A High

What should I do?

1 step
  1. 1) PATCH: Update to langflow 1.5.1 or langflow-base 0.5.1 — patches are available (PR #9152, commit c188ec1). 2) AUDIT: Immediately enumerate all superuser accounts; any account not explicitly provisioned by an admin is suspect. 3) ROTATE: Treat all API keys and credentials stored in Langflow as compromised until audited — rotate OpenAI, Anthropic, and any other stored keys. 4) RESTRICT: Langflow must not be internet-exposed; enforce VPN or network-level access controls. 5) MONITOR: Alert on 'langflow superuser' CLI invocations in container stdout/stderr logs. 6) HARDEN: Run Langflow containers with least-privilege OS permissions to limit blast radius of code execution.

What does CISA's SSVC say?

Decision Attend
Exploitation poc
Automatable No
Technical Impact total

Source: CISA Vulnrichment (SSVC v2.0). Decision based on the CISA Coordinator decision tree.

How is it classified?

Which compliance frameworks are affected?

This CVE is relevant to:

EU AI Act
Art. 9 - Risk management system
ISO 42001
A.6.2.3 - Access control for AI systems
NIST AI RMF
MANAGE 2.2 - Mechanisms are in place and applied to sustain the value of deployed AI systems
OWASP LLM Top 10
LLM08 - Excessive Agency

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-57760?

Any authenticated Langflow user with code execution access — trivially obtained via Langflow's built-in Python execution nodes — can self-promote to superuser with a single CLI command, gaining full platform control. Patch immediately to langflow 1.5.1 / langflow-base 0.5.1; this is a one-step escalation with no exploitation complexity. Until patched, restrict Langflow to internal networks, audit all superuser accounts for unauthorized entries, and rotate all stored API keys.

Is CVE-2025-57760 actively exploited?

Proof-of-concept exploit code is publicly available for CVE-2025-57760, increasing the risk of exploitation.

How to fix CVE-2025-57760?

1) PATCH: Update to langflow 1.5.1 or langflow-base 0.5.1 — patches are available (PR #9152, commit c188ec1). 2) AUDIT: Immediately enumerate all superuser accounts; any account not explicitly provisioned by an admin is suspect. 3) ROTATE: Treat all API keys and credentials stored in Langflow as compromised until audited — rotate OpenAI, Anthropic, and any other stored keys. 4) RESTRICT: Langflow must not be internet-exposed; enforce VPN or network-level access controls. 5) MONITOR: Alert on 'langflow superuser' CLI invocations in container stdout/stderr logs. 6) HARDEN: Run Langflow containers with least-privilege OS permissions to limit blast radius of code execution.

What systems are affected by CVE-2025-57760?

This vulnerability affects the following AI/ML architecture patterns: agent frameworks, LLM orchestration platforms, AI workflow automation.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-57760?

CVE-2025-57760 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH). The EPSS exploitation probability is 0.43%.

What is the AI security impact?

Affected AI Architectures

agent frameworksLLM orchestration platformsAI workflow automation

MITRE ATLAS Techniques

AML.T0012 Valid Accounts
AML.T0049 Exploit Public-Facing Application
AML.T0050 Command and Scripting Interpreter
AML.T0053 AI Agent Tool Invocation
AML.T0083 Credentials from AI Agent Configuration

Compliance Controls Affected

EU AI Act: Art. 9
ISO 42001: A.6.2.3
NIST AI RMF: MANAGE 2.2
OWASP LLM Top 10: LLM08

What are the technical details?

Original Advisory

Langflow is a tool for building and deploying AI-powered agents and workflows. A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Langflow containers where an authenticated user with RCE access can invoke the internal CLI command langflow superuser to create a new administrative user. This results in full superuser access, even if the user initially registered through the UI as a regular (non-admin) account. A patched version has not been made public at this time.

Exploitation Scenario

Attacker registers a standard user account on an internet-exposed Langflow instance (or compromises an existing low-privilege account). They create a workflow with a Python code execution node containing: `import subprocess; subprocess.run(['langflow', 'superuser', '--username', 'backdoor', '--password', 'Attacker123!'])`. Running the flow executes the CLI command inside the container, creating a new superuser. The attacker authenticates as superuser, exports all stored LLM API keys, modifies production AI workflows to exfiltrate sensitive data processed by agents, and uses stored database credentials to pivot laterally — entire chain completable in under 5 minutes with no specialized AI/ML knowledge.

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-269 — Improper Privilege Management: The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.

  • [Architecture and Design, Operation] Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
  • [Architecture and Design] Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.

Source: MITRE CWE corpus.

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Timeline

Published
August 25, 2025
Last Modified
December 18, 2025
First Seen
August 25, 2025

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