GHSA-777w-rpr6-c52h CVE-2026-65595
n8n: Privilege Escalation and Code Execution via Full Public API Key Scope Assignment to Token Exchange JWTs
- Severity
- 0.0 / 10
- High · CVSS 4.0
- Exploit chance (EPSS)
- 0.69%
- Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 52.92% of scored vulnerabilities.
- Known exploited
- No
- Not in CISA's catalog
- Weakness
- CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management
- Fix
2.30.1- Upgrade n8n to this version or later
Description
Impact
JWTs issued through the Token Exchange module were assigned all Public API key scopes, regardless of the acting user's actual role. A low-privileged user who could obtain a valid external JWT trusted by a configured issuer could therefore use the resulting access token to invoke administrator-only Public API operations, such as role escalation, user creation, and user deletion.
The issue only affects instances where the Token Exchange feature and the Public API are enabled (N8N_TOKEN_EXCHANGE_ENABLED=true, N8N_ENV_FEAT_TOKEN_EXCHANGE=true) and the attacker can obtain an external JWT accepted by a configured trusted key. Role escalation additionally requires an Advanced Permissions license; Community Package installation additionally requires N8N_COMMUNITY_PACKAGES_ENABLED=true and N8N_UNVERIFIED_PACKAGES_ENABLED=true.
Patches
The issue has been fixed in n8n version 2.30.1 and 2.29.8. Users should upgrade to this version or later to remediate the vulnerability.
Workarounds
If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations:
- Disable the Token Exchange feature by setting
N8N_TOKEN_EXCHANGE_ENABLED=falseorN8N_ENV_FEAT_TOKEN_EXCHANGE=false. - If Token Exchange cannot be disabled, restrict Public API access at the network level to trusted clients only.
- Disable unverified Community Package installation by setting
N8N_UNVERIFIED_PACKAGES_ENABLED=falseto eliminate the code execution path.
These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.
Affected versions
npm
How to fix
Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.
n8n npm → 2.30.1
- npm
npm install n8n@2.30.1- yarn
yarn add n8n@2.30.1- pnpm
pnpm add n8n@2.30.1
Severity breakdown
CVSS 4.0 0.0
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:L/SA:L
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
- High
- Integrity (vulnerable system)
- High
- Availability (vulnerable system)
- High
- Confidentiality (subsequent systems)
- High
- Integrity (subsequent systems)
- Low
- Availability (subsequent systems)
- Low
CVSS 3.1 8.8
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Weakness
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.
How to prevent it
- 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.
- Architecture and Design: Consider following the principle of separation of privilege. Require multiple conditions to be met before permitting access to a system resource.
References
Advisories
Packages
Other links
Timeline
- Published
- Last updated by the source
- Latest EPSS score
Related advisories
| Advisory | Severity | Why it's related |
|---|---|---|
| GHSA-v98v-ff95-f3cp n8n Vulnerable to Remote Code Execution via Expression Injection | High Known exploited | Also affects n8n |
| GHSA-qgpw-8g46-w95v n8n: Git Node branch.<name>.remote Config Key Bypasses Sandbox Path Restriction, Enabling Local Git Repository Read | Medium | Also affects n8n |
| GHSA-65xw-2v52-jhxc n8n: Cross-User Active Workflow ID and Lifecycle Event Disclosure via Missing userId Filter | Medium | Also affects n8n |
| GHSA-pq6c-vh67-xpm3 n8n: Log Streaming Event Destinations Decrypt Generic-Auth Credentials Without Ownership Check | Medium | Also affects n8n |
| GHSA-cqr2-h44g-v75v n8n: Cross-Tenant Project-Member PII Disclosure via Missing Per-Project Scope Check on Role Assignment Endpoints | Medium | Also affects n8n |
| GHSA-pf83-w3f9-8m37 n8n: Disabled OIDC SSO Endpoints Remain Active and Issue Valid Sessions | Medium | Also affects n8n |
| GHSA-6xcw-7xm6-48c6 n8n: Expression Sandbox Escape via Shared Builtin Tampering and Code-Printer Injection Leads to Code Execution | High | Also affects n8n |
| GHSA-34ff-336r-5q23 n8n: Domain-Restriction Bypass via Unguarded Model-Search Endpoint in OpenAI Chat Model Node | Medium | Also affects n8n |
MergeHarbor checks every repository's dependencies against this database, ranks what matters by exploitability and reachability, routes it to the owning team and opens the fix pull request.
Check your repos with MergeHarbor