Langflow CVE-2026-55447
CRITICALSeverity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Network-exploitable via file upload to a Langflow flow; attacker typically needs at least low-privilege flow access (PR:L), no user interaction once submitted, and the secret-key leak crosses authority scope enabling full RCE.
Primary rating from GitHub Advisory.
CVSS VectorGitHub Advisory
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Lifecycle Timeline
3DescriptionGitHub Advisory
Summary
All components based on BaseFileComponent are vulnerable to the following vulnerability:
- Docling (
DoclingInlineComponent) - Docling Serve (
DoclingRemoteComponent) - Read File (
FileComponent) - NVIDIA Retriever Extraction (
NvidiaIngestComponent) - Video File (
VideoFileComponent) - Unstructured API (
UnstructuredComponent)
For clarity, from now on I'll only refer to Read File component.
The Read File node processes user-controlled files. Example scenario is a RAG chatbot - a system that allows users of an organization to ask questions about documents saved in the organizations.
By controlling a files that are digested into the RAG, an attacker can direct the node to read *any* file on the file-system by absolute path.
Using this vulnerability an attacker can acheive RCE:
- Upload a file that directs the node to read Langflow's
secret_keyfile containing the JWT token secret. - This would allow the attacker then to simply task the Chatbot for the JWT secret.
- Using this secret, the attacker then crafts a JWT token for any user-id, bypassing authentication.
- Code execution is then trivial - simply create a new flow with "Python Interpreter" node, fill it with arbitrary Python code and execute it.
Tested on commit 2d67402b1dbaefcbce85a244d4a6cd5e4bda1cfe
Details
The vulnerability is in: langflow/src/lfx/src/lfx/base/data/base_file.py Specifically in _unpack_bundle. This function extracts tar files, which can contain a symlink. This symlink can point to any file in the filesystem. Then, in self.process_files(), the file pointed by the symlink will be parsed and saved into the RAG. This can be done with unlimited number of symlinks in the same tar which can also be useful in some scenarios.
Suggestd fix - iterate over the files and make sure all are regular files or directories.
PoC
Reproduction:
- Create a flow with Read File (or any other affected components), and connect its output to some storage such as Chroma DB.
- Create a symlink pointing to any file. For the above exploit, point the symlink to langflow's JWT token file.
- Compress this symlink with tar.
- Upload it to the Read File component.
- Check the database, or ask a Chatbot connected to this vector database for the contents of the file.
Concrete PoC: ------------
- Flow with RAG ingestion and a Chatbot around it: Vector Store RAG.json
- Exploit tar: archive.tar.txt (remove .txt, GitHub blocked .tar)
- Create a file
/tmp/trip.docxwith any contents in it - Ingest the file in the flow above, and ask the Chatbot a question about this file.
A demo showing the attack: https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/af00f700-f13f-4eac-848e-8afd11fb9297 In the demo the attacker steals Langflow secret key used to sign JWTs. The second stage of the attack, not shown in the demo, is using this key to sign a JWT token and executing Python code on the server using the Python code interpreter node.
Impact
Any Langflow user using any of the above mentioned components to ingest user-controlled data is affected. Depending on exact scenario, the user can also be exposed to an RCE risk.
Patches
Fixed in 1.9.2 via PR #12945. BaseFileComponent._unpack_bundle now rejects symlink and hardlink members (and any non-regular entries) during TAR extraction, with additional defensive symlink filtering during directory recursion and after extraction. Upgrade to 1.9.2 or later.
Ori Lahav Security Researcher @ Rubrik Inc.
Articles & Coverage 1
AnalysisAI
Arbitrary file read leading to remote code execution affects Langflow versions prior to 1.9.2 in any flow that uses BaseFileComponent-derived nodes (Read File, Docling, Docling Serve, NVIDIA Retriever Extraction, Video File, Unstructured API). An attacker who can submit a TAR archive containing symlinks - for example through a RAG ingestion pipeline that accepts user documents - causes the server to follow those links and ingest arbitrary host files such as Langflow's JWT secret_key, which can then be used to forge admin tokens and execute Python via the Code Interpreter node. …
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Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata
Vulnerability AssessmentAI
| Exploitation | Requires that the target Langflow deployment contains at least one flow using a BaseFileComponent-derived node (Read File / Docling / Docling Serve / NVIDIA Retriever Extraction / Video File / Unstructured API) and that the attacker can submit a TAR archive into that flow's file input - typically a RAG ingestion pipeline that accepts user-controlled documents. … Additional conditions and limiting factors are described in the full assessment. |
| Risk Assessment | The vendor-supplied CVSS 3.1 vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H (9.6 Critical) is plausible for network-exposed Langflow instances offering public document upload, but PR:N and UI:R are deployment-dependent - many Langflow installs require authentication to submit flows, in which case real-world PR is L or H. … Full risk analysis with EPSS, KEV, and SSVC signal comparison available after sign-in. |
| Exploit Scenario | An attacker submits a document to a public Langflow-backed RAG chatbot, but the upload is a TAR archive containing a symlink named e.g. `leak` whose linkname is `/app/data/secret_key`. … |
| Remediation | Vendor-released patch: Langflow 1.9.2 - upgrade via `pip install --upgrade langflow>=1.9.2` per the fix delivered in PR https://github.com/langflow-ai/langflow/pull/12945, which makes `_safe_extract_tar` reject symlink, hardlink, and non-regular TAR members and adds defensive `is_symlink()` filtering during directory recursion. … Detailed patch versions, workarounds, and compensating controls in full report. |
Recommended ActionAI
Within 24 hours: Identify all Langflow deployments and assess whether they process user-supplied documents or external file inputs. …
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