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CVE-2026-45360: Apache Airflow: Arbitrary import in custom deadline-reference deserialization

• Severity: high (CVSS 7.3 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.7% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2026-06-01 · updated 2026-07-21
• Weakness: CWE-502

Description

Apache Airflow's scheduler-side deadline-reference decoder (`SerializedCustomReference.deserialize_reference`) imported and dispatched arbitrary class paths drawn from DAG-author-controlled serialized state without an allowlist or plugin-registry gate. A DAG author whose code reaches the scheduler — the default on single-host deployments where the DAG bundle is importable from the scheduler process — could embed a custom `DeadlineReference` whose serialized form named an attacker-controlled module path, causing the scheduler to `import_string(...)` and instantiate that class with a live SQLAlchemy session attached. Affects deployments where DAG-author code is less trusted than the scheduler process. Users are advised to upgrade to `apache-airflow` 3.2.2 or later.

Affected products

• Apache Airflow: before 3.2.2 — fixed in 3.2.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Apache Airflow 3.2.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/66737
• https://lists.apache.org/thread/q227dghjwgfz8xsxrf2pwpz4wk43zm83
• http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/31/12

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