GHSA-jp7m-xcgx-57qm CVE-2026-59259
n8n: External Secrets Permission Bypass via Expression Parser Mismatch
- Severity
- 0.0 / 10
- Medium · CVSS 4.0
- Exploit chance (EPSS)
- 0.44%
- Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 38.05% of scored vulnerabilities.
- Known exploited
- No
- Not in CISA's catalog
- Weakness
- CWE-639 Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
- Fix
1.123.61- Upgrade n8n to this version or later
Description
Impact
Due to a mismatch between the static validation check and the runtime expression engine, an authenticated user with credential create or update permissions, but without the externalSecret:list scope, could embed external secret references into credentials in forms the validation did not detect. These references would resolve at workflow execution time, exposing secret values the user was not authorized to access.
This issue only affects instances where an external secrets provider is configured and Advanced Permissions are in use.
Patches
The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 1.123.61, 2.27.4, and 2.28.1. 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 credential creation and update permissions to fully trusted users only.
- Audit existing credentials for unexpected external secret references.
These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.
Affected versions
npm
| Package | Vulnerable | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| n8n | < 1.123.61 |
1.123.61 |
| n8n | >= 2.28.0, < 2.28.1 |
2.28.1 |
| n8n | >= 2.0.0-rc.0, < 2.27.4 |
2.27.4 |
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 → 1.123.61
- npm
npm install n8n@1.123.61- yarn
yarn add n8n@1.123.61- pnpm
pnpm add n8n@1.123.61
Severity breakdown
CVSS 4.0 0.0
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
- High
- Integrity (vulnerable system)
- None
- Availability (vulnerable system)
- None
- Confidentiality (subsequent systems)
- None
- Integrity (subsequent systems)
- None
- Availability (subsequent systems)
- None
CVSS 3.1 6.5
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Weakness
CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
The system's authorization functionality does not prevent one user from gaining access to another user's data or record by modifying the key value identifying the data.
How to prevent it
- Architecture and Design: For each and every data access, ensure that the user has sufficient privilege to access the record that is being requested.
- Architecture and Design, Implementation: Make sure that the key that is used in the lookup of a specific user's record is not controllable externally by the user or that any tampering can be detected.
- Architecture and Design: Use encryption in order to make it more difficult to guess other legitimate values of the key or associate a digital signature with the key so that the server can verify that there has been no tampering.
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 |
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