n8n Has External Secrets Authorization Bypass in Credential Saving
Noroxi assessment
Priority: Monitor (action score 29/100)
- The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.29% (FIRST EPSS).
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
- Fixed version: n8n (npm) 2.6.4, 1.123.23.
Low priority for now. Upgrade to n8n (npm) 2.6.4, 1.123.23 or later.
Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it
Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS
n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to versions 2.6.4 and 1.123.23, an authenticated user without permission to list external secrets could reference a secret by the external name in a credential and retrieve its plaintext value when saving the credential. This bypassed the `externalSecret:list` permission check and allowed access to secrets stored in connected vaults without admin or owner privileges. This issue requires the instance to have an external secrets vault configured. The attacker must know or be able to guess the name of a target secret. The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 1.123.23 and 2.6.4. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations: Restrict n8n access to fully trusted users only, and/or disable external secrets integration until the patch can be applied. These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.
- Published
- Mar 25, 2026
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.2% · 20th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-863
Report tools
Action score
29
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 29 / 40 · 7.3 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.2%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- —
- CNA · GitHub_M
- 7.3
- NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Get told when this record changes
- Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
- No public exploit code on record
- A fix has been released
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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Noroxi analysis
What does it mean in your environment?
The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
Is your version affected?
Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| n8n | n8n | cpe:2.3:a:n8n:n8n |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- n8n n8nbefore 1.123.23
- n8n n8n2.0.0 and later · before 2.6.4
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
n8n-io n8n
- < 1.123.23, >= 2.0.0-rc.0, < 2.6.4affected
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm | n8n | from 2.0.0-rc.0 · before 2.6.4 | 2.6.4 |
| npm | n8n | before 1.123.23 | 1.123.23 |
Same product
n8n: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2025-68613n8n Vulnerable to Remote Code Execution via Expression InjectionKEV95Now
- CVE-2026-21858n8n Vulnerable to Unauthenticated File Access via Improper Webhook Request Handling63This week
- CVE-2026-1470Authenticated users can bypass the Expression sandbox mechanism to achieve full remote code execution on n8n’s main node.45Plan
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2026-33713Mar 25, 2026 · n8n Vulnerable to SQL Injection in Data Table Node via orderByColumn Expression34Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2026-33720Mar 25, 2026 · n8n Has Authorization Bypass in OAuth Callback via N8N_SKIP_AUTH_ON_OAUTH_CALLBACK25Monitor
- Later →CVE-2026-33724Mar 25, 2026 · n8n's Source Control SSH Configuration Uses StrictHostKeyChecking=no25Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| npm:n8n | 1.123.23 | Package registry (OSV) |
| npm:n8n | 2.6.4 | Package registry (OSV) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
- CVE-2026-5430790 days apartn8n: Credential Exfiltration via Permission Bypass34Monitor
- CVE-2026-65015119 days apartn8n before 2.30.1 Privilege Escalation via run_node_tool28Monitor
- CVE-2026-72771139 days apartn8n before 2.32.1 Credential Restriction Bypass via AI/LLM Nodes28Monitor
- CVE-2026-85166162 days apartn8n before 2.36.2 Credential Exfiltration via Workflow Tool Node28Monitor
- CVE-2026-337200 days apartn8n Has Authorization Bypass in OAuth Callback via N8N_SKIP_AUTH_ON_OAUTH_CALLBACK25Monitor
- CVE-2026-86073167 days apartn8n: Per-Resource OAuth Consent Bypass via Unbound Refresh Token Resource Substitution23Monitor
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- A low-privileged account is enough.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- Integrity
- Availability
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- X
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-863 · Incorrect AuthorizationCVSS vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/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
nvd-secondary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.