📄 Description (English)
Apache Airflow Command Injection — A remote code/command injection vulnerability was discovered in one of the example DAGs shipped with Airflow.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CVE-2020-11978 is a critical remote code execution vulnerability in Apache Airflow affecting example DAGs shipped with the platform, allowing attackers to inject and execute arbitrary OS commands. With a CVSS score of 9.0 and a publicly available exploit, this vulnerability poses an immediate and severe threat to any organization running unpatched Airflow instances. Successful exploitation can lead to full system compromise, data exfiltration, lateral movement, and disruption of data pipeline operations. Organizations using Airflow for workflow orchestration in data engineering, analytics, or ETL pipelines are at highest risk.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 18, 2026 10:36
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
Saudi organizations heavily invested in digital transformation and data-driven operations face significant exposure. Key sectors at risk include: Energy (Saudi Aramco and affiliated companies using Airflow for pipeline data orchestration and operational analytics), Government (NCA-regulated entities and Vision 2030 digital government initiatives leveraging Airflow for ETL and reporting workflows), Banking and Finance (SAMA-regulated institutions using Airflow for financial data pipelines, fraud detection workflows, and regulatory reporting automation), Telecom (STC and other operators using Airflow for network analytics and customer data processing), and Healthcare (MOH and hospital networks using Airflow for patient data workflows). Given the prevalence of cloud-hosted Airflow instances on AWS, Azure, and GCP in the Saudi market, and the availability of public exploits, the risk of targeted attacks against Saudi data infrastructure is elevated.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Energy
Banking
Government
Telecom
Healthcare
Technology
Retail
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
9.0
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS:
1. Identify all Apache Airflow instances in your environment and check version numbers immediately.
2. Disable or remove all example DAGs from production environments — specifically the 'example_trigger_target_dag' and related example DAGs that contain the vulnerable code.
3. Restrict network access to the Airflow web UI and API to trusted IP ranges only using firewall rules or security groups.
4. Audit all currently running DAGs for signs of unauthorized modification or injection.
PATCHING GUIDANCE:
5. Upgrade Apache Airflow to version 1.10.10 or later, which contains the fix for this vulnerability.
6. If using managed Airflow services (e.g., AWS MWAA, Google Cloud Composer), apply available platform updates immediately.
7. Review and apply vendor-specific security advisories from Apache.
COMPENSATING CONTROLS (if patching is delayed):
8. Set 'load_examples = False' in the airflow.cfg configuration file to prevent loading of example DAGs.
9. Implement strict Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) within Airflow to limit who can trigger or modify DAGs.
10. Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) in front of the Airflow web interface.
11. Enable audit logging for all DAG executions and API calls.
DETECTION RULES:
12. Monitor for unusual process spawning from Airflow worker processes (e.g., bash, sh, python executing unexpected commands).
13. Create SIEM alerts for Airflow logs containing shell metacharacters or command injection patterns in DAG parameters.
14. Monitor outbound network connections from Airflow worker nodes to unexpected external IPs.
15. Deploy EDR rules to detect OS command execution originating from Airflow service accounts.
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تحديد جميع نسخ Apache Airflow في بيئتك والتحقق من أرقام الإصدارات فوراً.
2. تعطيل أو إزالة جميع نماذج DAGs من بيئات الإنتاج، وتحديداً 'example_trigger_target_dag' والنماذج المرتبطة بها التي تحتوي على الكود المعرض للثغرة.
3. تقييد الوصول الشبكي إلى واجهة Airflow الويب وAPI على نطاقات IP موثوقة فقط باستخدام قواعد جدار الحماية أو مجموعات الأمان.
4. مراجعة جميع DAGs الجارية حالياً للكشف عن أي تعديلات غير مصرح بها أو حقن.
إرشادات التصحيح:
5. الترقية إلى Apache Airflow الإصدار 1.10.10 أو أحدث الذي يتضمن إصلاح هذه الثغرة.
6. إذا كنت تستخدم خدمات Airflow المُدارة (مثل AWS MWAA أو Google Cloud Composer)، قم بتطبيق تحديثات المنصة المتاحة فوراً.
7. مراجعة وتطبيق التوجيهات الأمنية الخاصة بالبائع من Apache.
ضوابط التعويض (في حال تأخر التصحيح):
8. تعيين 'load_examples = False' في ملف إعداد airflow.cfg لمنع تحميل نماذج DAGs.
9. تطبيق التحكم في الوصول المستند إلى الأدوار (RBAC) بشكل صارم داخل Airflow لتقييد من يمكنه تشغيل أو تعديل DAGs.
10. نشر جدار حماية تطبيقات الويب (WAF) أمام واجهة Airflow الويب.
11. تفعيل تسجيل التدقيق لجميع عمليات تنفيذ DAG واستدعاءات API.
قواعد الكشف:
12. مراقبة عمليات غير معتادة تنبثق من عمليات عمال Airflow (مثل bash أو sh أو python تنفذ أوامر غير متوقعة).
13. إنشاء تنبيهات SIEM لسجلات Airflow التي تحتوي على محارف خاصة بالشل أو أنماط حقن الأوامر في معاملات DAG.
14. مراقبة الاتصالات الشبكية الصادرة من عقد عمال Airflow إلى عناوين IP خارجية غير متوقعة.
15. نشر قواعد EDR للكشف عن تنفيذ أوامر نظام التشغيل الصادرة من حسابات خدمة Airflow.
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC-1-4-2: Cybersecurity Vulnerability Management
ECC-1-4-3: Patch Management
ECC-2-3-1: Application Security
ECC-2-3-3: Secure Configuration Management
ECC-1-3-6: Protection of Systems from Malicious Code
🔵 SAMA CSF
3.3.5 Vulnerability Management
3.3.6 Patch Management
3.3.2 Application Security
3.4.2 Security Monitoring and Logging
3.3.3 Secure Configuration
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
A.12.6.1 Management of Technical Vulnerabilities
A.14.2.1 Secure Development Policy
A.14.2.5 Secure System Engineering Principles
A.12.4.1 Event Logging
A.9.4.1 Information Access Restriction
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
Requirement 6.3.3: All system components are protected from known vulnerabilities
Requirement 6.2.4: Software engineering techniques to prevent common vulnerabilities
Requirement 11.3.1: Internal vulnerability scanning
Requirement 10.2: Audit log implementation
🔗 References & Sources 0
No references.
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
Apache:Airflow