📄 Description (English)
Apache Airflow's Experimental API Authentication Bypass — The previous default setting for Airflow's Experimental API was to allow all API requests without authentication.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
Apache Airflow's Experimental API allowed unauthenticated access to critical workflow management functions by default, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary DAGs, modify configurations, and access sensitive data. This critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.0) affects organizations using Airflow for data orchestration and ETL processes. Immediate patching and authentication enforcement are essential to prevent unauthorized workflow manipulation and data exfiltration.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 19, 2026 04:39
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
Saudi organizations in financial services (SAMA-regulated banks), government agencies (NCA oversight), energy sector (ARAMCO, oil & gas operations), and telecommunications (STC, Mobily) using Apache Airflow for data pipelines face critical risk. Attackers could execute malicious workflows to exfiltrate financial data, manipulate operational metrics, disrupt critical infrastructure monitoring, or inject malicious code into ETL processes. Government entities processing classified data and financial institutions handling transaction data are particularly vulnerable.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Banking and Financial Services
Government and Public Administration
Energy and Oil & Gas
Telecommunications
Healthcare
Data Analytics and Business Intelligence
Cloud Service Providers
🎯 MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
9.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
1. IMMEDIATE: Disable Airflow's Experimental API or restrict access via firewall/network segmentation to trusted internal networks only
2. Upgrade Apache Airflow to version 1.10.11 or later (1.10.x series) or 2.0.0+ where authentication is enforced by default
3. Enable authentication for all API endpoints by setting 'auth_backend' configuration to enforce authentication (e.g., LDAP, Kerberos)
4. Implement API authentication tokens and rotate existing credentials
5. Deploy WAF rules to block unauthenticated API requests to /api/experimental/* endpoints
6. Audit API access logs for unauthorized requests: grep 'api/experimental' airflow_logs.log
7. Implement network-level access controls restricting API access to authorized IP ranges
8. Enable comprehensive logging and monitoring for all API calls with alerting on failed authentication attempts
9. Conduct forensic analysis of historical API access logs to identify potential compromise
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
1. فوري: تعطيل واجهة برمجة التطبيقات التجريبية في Airflow أو تقييد الوصول عبر جدار الحماية/تقسيم الشبكة للشبكات الداخلية الموثوقة فقط
2. ترقية Apache Airflow إلى الإصدار 1.10.11 أو أحدث (سلسلة 1.10.x) أو 2.0.0+ حيث يتم فرض المصادقة بشكل افتراضي
3. تفعيل المصادقة لجميع نقاط نهاية API بتعيين إعدادات 'auth_backend' لفرض المصادقة (مثل LDAP أو Kerberos)
4. تنفيذ رموز مصادقة API وتدوير بيانات الاعتماد الموجودة
5. نشر قواعد WAF لحظر طلبات API غير المصرح بها إلى نقاط نهاية /api/experimental/*
6. تدقيق سجلات وصول API للطلبات غير المصرح بها: grep 'api/experimental' airflow_logs.log
7. تنفيذ عناصر تحكم الوصول على مستوى الشبكة لتقييد وصول API إلى نطاقات IP المصرح بها
8. تفعيل السجلات الشاملة والمراقبة لجميع استدعاءات API مع التنبيهات على محاولات المصادقة الفاشلة
9. إجراء تحليل الطب الشرعي لسجلات وصول API التاريخية لتحديد الاختراق المحتمل
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
5.1.1 - Access Control and Authentication
5.2.1 - User Access Management
5.3.1 - Privileged Access Management
6.1.1 - Audit Logging and Monitoring
6.2.1 - Security Event Logging
🔵 SAMA CSF
ID.AM-1 - Asset Management
PR.AC-1 - Access Control
PR.AC-2 - Physical and Logical Access Control
DE.CM-1 - Detection and Analysis
DE.AE-1 - Anomalies and Events
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
A.5.1.1 - Policies for information security
A.6.1.1 - Information security roles and responsibilities
A.8.1.1 - User endpoint devices
A.9.1.1 - Access control policy
A.9.2.1 - User registration and de-registration
A.9.4.1 - Password management
A.12.4.1 - Event logging
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
Requirement 2.1 - Default security parameters
Requirement 6.2 - Security patches
Requirement 7.1 - Access control
Requirement 8.1 - User identification and authentication
Requirement 10.2 - Automated audit trails
🔗 References & Sources 0
No references.
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
Apache:Airflow's Experimental API