| Component | n8n |
| Severity | medium (CVSS 6.5) |
| CVSS vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |
| Published (NVD) | 2026-07-15 |
| Last modified | 2026-07-16 |
| Affected versions | n8n < 1.123.61 n8n >= 2.0.0, < 2.27.4 n8n = 2.28.0 n8n = 2.28.0 |
| Fixed in | 1.123.61, 2.27.4 |
| Weakness | CWE-639 |
| CISA KEV | not listed |
NVD description
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.
What to do
- Upgrade n8n to
1.123.61or later (or the patched release of your branch: 2.27.4). - Do not expose the component's API or UI to the internet without authentication in front of it.
Sources
- NVD: CVE-2026-59259
- https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/security/advisories/GHSA-jp7m-xcgx-57qm
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/n8n-permission-bypass-via-expression-parser-mismatch-in-external-secrets
Read more
Other n8n CVEs
n8n versions before 1.123.80 contain a credential tampering vulnerability where duplicate node IDs bypass the workflow credential tamper gua...
n8n versions before 1.123.80, from 2.0.0 before 2.39.6, and from 2.40.0 before 2.40.1 contain a stored DOM cross-site scripting vulnerabilit...
n8n versions before 1.123.80, from 2.0.0 before 2.39.6, and from 2.40.0 before 2.40.1 contain a path traversal vulnerability in the Supabase...
n8n versions before 2.39.6 and 2.40.0 before 2.40.1 fail to validate credential ownership during inline agent node-tool introspection. Attac...
n8n versions before 1.123.80, from 2.0.0 before 2.39.6, and from 2.40.0 before 2.40.1 contain a filter injection vulnerability in the Supaba...
n8n versions before 1.123.80, from 2.0.0 before 2.39.6, and from 2.40.0 before 2.40.1 contain a NoSQL injection vulnerability in the MongoDB...