EUVD-2026-44635
GHSA-q6mx-qvhp-fqmg
Severity by source
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/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Network-exploitable with low-privilege auth; AC:L because once prerequisites exist the attack requires no special complexity; C:H for full secret disclosure; no integrity or availability impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
n8n before versions 1.123.61, 2.27.4, and 2.28.1 contains a permission bypass vulnerability in external secrets handling caused by 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 can embed external secret references into credentials in forms the static validation does not detect; these references resolve at workflow execution time, exposing secret values the user is not authorized to access. This issue only affects instances where an external secrets provider is configured and Advanced Permissions are in use.
AnalysisAI
Permission bypass in n8n's external secrets handling allows authenticated low-privilege users to exfiltrate secrets they are not authorized to access by exploiting a mismatch between the platform's static validation layer and its runtime expression engine. Affected are all n8n instances running versions before 1.123.61 (1.x branch), 2.27.4, or 2.28.1 (2.x branch) that have both an external secrets provider and Advanced Permissions configured. No public exploit identified at time of analysis, and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV, but the confidentiality impact is high for affected deployments given that secrets such as API keys and credentials may be fully exposed.
Technical ContextAI
n8n is an open-source workflow automation platform that supports integration with external secrets providers (such as HashiCorp Vault or AWS Secrets Manager) to inject sensitive values into credentials and workflow nodes at execution time. The platform implements a role-based Advanced Permissions model, including an externalSecret:list scope that is intended to gate which users can reference or enumerate external secrets. The root cause is CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key): the static validation logic that enforces the externalSecret:list scope check does not detect all syntactic forms by which external secret references can be embedded in credential payloads submitted through credential creation or update forms. However, the runtime expression engine - which resolves these references at workflow execution time - accepts and evaluates those same reference forms. This validation/enforcement gap means an attacker can craft a credential payload that passes the static gate but triggers privileged secret resolution at runtime. The CPE data (cpe:2.3:a:n8n:n8n:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*) confirms all n8n editions across both the 1.x and 2.x release trains are in scope.
RemediationAI
The primary fix is to upgrade n8n to version 1.123.61 (for 1.x deployments), 2.27.4, or 2.28.1 (for 2.x deployments), as released by the vendor and documented in advisory GHSA-jp7m-xcgx-57qm at https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/security/advisories/GHSA-jp7m-xcgx-57qm. If an immediate upgrade is not feasible, the most effective compensating control is to restrict credential create and update permissions to only fully trusted users who already hold the externalSecret:list scope, eliminating the privilege gap that this vulnerability exploits - note that this may reduce workflow authoring flexibility. Alternatively, disabling the external secrets provider integration entirely removes the attack surface but also removes secret injection functionality from all workflows. Defenders should audit existing credentials for unexpected external secret references that may indicate prior exploitation. Additional context from VulnCheck is available at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/n8n-permission-bypass-via-expression-parser-mismatch-in-external-secrets.
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External POC / Exploit Code
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