Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NSummary
CVE-2023-51702 is a medium-severity Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information (CWE-312) vulnerability in Apache Airflow. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Credentials In Files (T1552.001); ranked at the 31th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SC-28 (Protection of Information at Rest) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-0386
Vulnerability Data
Since version 5.2.0, when using deferrable mode with the path of a Kubernetes configuration file for authentication, the Airflow worker serializes this configuration file as a dictionary and sends it to the triggerer by storing it in metadata without any…
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encryption. Additionally, if used with an Airflow version between 2.3.0 and 2.6.0, the configuration dictionary will be logged as plain text in the triggerer service without masking. This allows anyone with access to the metadata or triggerer log to obtain the configuration file and use it to access the Kubernetes cluster. This behavior was changed in version 7.0.0, which stopped serializing the file contents and started providing the file path instead to read the contents into the trigger. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 7.0.0, which fixes this issue.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 4 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
V14.2.8
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
SC-28 requires cryptographic or equivalent protection of sensitive data at rest, directly stopping cleartext storage in accessible resources.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Encryption and cryptographic controls for data-at-rest directly prevent cleartext storage of sensitive information.
Secure SDLC practices directly prohibit writing sensitive data to logs; eliminating the weakness satisfies only one narrow slice of the control.
Log generation configuration can and should exclude sensitive data, but the control statement focuses on availability rather than content filtering.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Requiring de-identification and privacy controls before logs leave the organization reduces the chance that sensitive data inadvertently captured in logs becomes exposed to external parties.
By defining what records must be kept, where, and for how long, the control discourages the inadvertent inclusion of sensitive information in logs or other externally accessible files that fall outside the formal record system.
Requiring non-standard deletion or physical destruction of media ensures that sensitive information is not left in cleartext on discarded or repurposed equipment.
Secure deletion of data before device transfer prevents residual sensitive information from remaining in cleartext on storage media that leave organizational control.
Secure deletion of obsolete or temporary copies prevents sensitive data from remaining in cleartext on disk after its intended lifetime.
Substituting real values with hashes or encrypted tokens before storage reduces the quantity of cleartext sensitive information that ends up persisted on disk.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
- V-248525 All OL 8 local disk partitions must implement cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure or modification of all information that requires at-rest protection. prevents CWE-312
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
- V-271756 OL 9 local disk partitions must implement cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure or modification of all information that requires at rest protection. prevents CWE-312
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
- V-230224 All RHEL 8 local disk partitions must implement cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure or modification of all information that requires at rest protection. prevents CWE-312