What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-11978?

CVE-2020-11978 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (High). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. EPSS exploitation probability: 99.1%.

Is there a public PoC exploit available for CVE-2020-11978?

Yes, a public proof-of-concept exploit is available for CVE-2020-11978. Prioritise patching immediately. EPSS: 99.1%.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2020-11978?

Yes, a patch is available for CVE-2020-11978. Update the affected software to the latest version immediately.

Airflow CVE-2020-11978

HIGH

OS Command Injection (CWE-78)

2020-07-17 security@apache.org

Apache Command Injection Airflow

8.8

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY

8.8 HIGH

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

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

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

Lifecycle Timeline

Added to CISA KEV

Jul 14, 2026 - 04:22 CISA

CVE Published

Jul 17, 2020 - 00:15 nvd

HIGH 8.8

DescriptionNVD

An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. A remote code/command injection vulnerability was discovered in one of the example DAGs shipped with Airflow which would allow any authenticated user to run arbitrary commands as the user running airflow worker/scheduler (depending on the executor in use). If you already have examples disabled by setting load_examples=False in the config then you are not vulnerable.

AnalysisAI

An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

Technical ContextAI

This vulnerability is classified as OS Command Injection (CWE-78), which allows attackers to execute arbitrary operating system commands on the host. An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. A remote code/command injection vulnerability was discovered in one of the example DAGs shipped with Airflow which would allow any authenticated user to run arbitrary commands as the user running airflow worker/scheduler (depending on the executor in use). If you already have examples disabled by setting load_examples=False in the config then you are not vulnerable. Affected products include: Apache Airflow.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Avoid passing user input to shell commands. Use language-specific APIs instead of shell execution. Apply strict input validation with allowlists.