CVE-2026-86996: n8n: Agent Workflow Tool Bypasses Sub-Workflow Caller Policy

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.4 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-09-08 · updated 2026-09-10
Weakness: CWE-862

Description

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to 2.37.7 and 2.38.2, the workflow setting named This workflow can be called by was enforced by the Execute Workflow node but not when a workflow was attached to an Agent as a tool. A user able to build an Agent could invoke a restricted workflow and read its returned data. The affected path is packages/cli/src/modules/agents/tools/workflow-tool-factory.ts, where executeWorkflow omitted SubworkflowPolicyChecker.checkForProject. This issue is fixed in versions 2.37.7 and 2.38.2.

Affected products

n8n-io n8n: before 2.37.7; from 2.38.0 before 2.38.2 — fixed in 2.37.7, 2.38.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: n8n-io n8n 2.37.7, 2.38.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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