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GHSA-hx4h-vr3m-45vh CVE-2026-72769

n8n: Prototype Pollution via VM Expression Engine Sandbox Escape Leads to Denial of Service

High npm
Severity
0.0 / 10
High · CVSS 4.0
Exploit chance (EPSS)
0.51%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 43.80% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-1321 Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes ('Prototype Pollution')
Fix
1.123.67
Upgrade n8n to this version or later

Description

Impact

An authenticated user able to create or edit a workflow expression could abuse the expression engine's array-element access to obtain a reference to a host built-in and pollute its prototype in the main n8n process, leading to a denial of service.

Both self-hosted and cloud instances running the VM expression engine are affected.

Patches

The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 1.123.67, 2.31.5, and 2.32.1. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability.

Workarounds

If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations:

  • Restrict n8n instance access to fully trusted users only.
  • Disable the VM expression engine if an alternative is available for your deployment.

These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.

Affected versions

npm

PackageVulnerableFixed in
n8n
< 1.123.67
1.123.67
n8n
>= 2.32.0, < 2.32.1
2.32.1
n8n
>= 2.0.0-rc.0, < 2.31.5
2.31.5

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 → 1.123.67

npm
npm install n8n@1.123.67
yarn
yarn add n8n@1.123.67
pnpm
pnpm add n8n@1.123.67

Severity breakdown

CVSS 4.0 0.0

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
Present
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
None
Integrity (vulnerable system)
High
Availability (vulnerable system)
High
Confidentiality (subsequent systems)
None
Integrity (subsequent systems)
None
Availability (subsequent systems)
None

CVSS 3.1 8.1

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

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Weakness

CWE-1321: Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes ('Prototype Pollution')

The product receives input from an upstream component that specifies attributes that are to be initialized or updated in an object, but it does not properly control modifications of attributes of the object prototype.

How to prevent it
  • Implementation: By freezing the object prototype first (for example, Object.freeze(Object.prototype)), modification of the prototype becomes impossible.
  • Architecture and Design: By blocking modifications of attributes that resolve to object prototype, such as proto or prototype, this weakness can be mitigated.
  • Implementation: When handling untrusted objects, validating using a schema can be used.
  • Implementation: By using an object without prototypes (via Object.create(null) ), adding object prototype attributes by accessing the prototype via the special attributes becomes impossible, mitigating this weakness.
  • Implementation: Map can be used instead of objects in most cases. If Map methods are used instead of object attributes, it is not possible to access the object prototype or modify it.

References

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Last updated by the source
  3. Latest EPSS score
AdvisorySeverityWhy 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
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