Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-68613

N8N 0.211.0 – 1.120.4

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoC
Published
19 December 2025
Modified
11 March 2026
KEV Added
11 March 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.9
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.98 99.9th percentile
Risk Priority 92 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-68613 is a critical-severity Improper Control of Dynamically-Managed Code Resources (CWE-913) vulnerability in N8N N8N. Its CVSS base score is 9.9 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 0.1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-6 (Least Privilege) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2025-68613 is a critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability (CVSS 9.9, CWE-913) affecting n8n, an open-source workflow automation platform. The flaw resides in the workflow expression evaluation system, where expressions provided by authenticated users during workflow configuration can be evaluated in an execution context lacking sufficient isolation from the underlying runtime. It impacts versions starting from 0.211.0 up to but not including 1.120.4, 1.121.1, and 1.122.0.

An authenticated attacker with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. By crafting malicious expressions in workflows, the attacker can execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the n8n process, potentially achieving full compromise of the instance. This includes unauthorized access to sensitive data, modification of workflows, and execution of system-level operations.

The vulnerability has been addressed in n8n versions 1.120.4, 1.121.1, and 1.122.0, which introduce additional safeguards to restrict expression evaluation. Administrators are urged to upgrade immediately. As temporary measures, limit workflow creation and editing to fully trusted users, and deploy n8n in a hardened environment with restricted OS privileges and network access, though these do not fully mitigate the risk.

Notable context includes evidence of real-world targeting, as documented in an Akamai security research post detailing Zerobot malware campaigns exploiting n8n automation platforms.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Versions starting with 0.211.0 and prior to 1.120.4, 1.121.1, and 1.122.0 contain a critical Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in their workflow expression evaluation system. Under certain conditions, expressions supplied by authenticated…

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users during workflow configuration may be evaluated in an execution context that is not sufficiently isolated from the underlying runtime. An authenticated attacker could abuse this behavior to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the n8n process. Successful exploitation may lead to full compromise of the affected instance, including unauthorized access to sensitive data, modification of workflows, and execution of system-level operations. This issue has been fixed in versions 1.120.4, 1.121.1, and 1.122.0. Users are strongly advised to upgrade to a patched version, which introduces additional safeguards to restrict expression evaluation. If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations: Limit workflow creation and editing permissions to fully trusted users only; and/or deploy n8n in a hardened environment with restricted operating system privileges and network access to reduce the impact of potential exploitation. These workarounds do not fully eliminate the risk and should only be used as short-term measures.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
11 March 2026

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Why these techniques?

CVE-2025-68613 is a remote code execution vulnerability in the public-facing n8n workflow automation platform, directly enabling exploitation of a public-facing application.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
The vulnerability is a remote code execution flaw in a publicly accessible workflow automation platform, directly enabling exploitation of a public-facing application.
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Executionconfidence: HIGH
Malicious expressions are evaluated in the n8n runtime, allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary commands or scripts via the command and scripting interpreter.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalationconfidence: HIGH
Successful exploitation grants code execution with the privileges of the n8n process, constituting exploitation for privilege escalation.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Executionconfidence: MEDIUM
The crafted workflow expressions can be delivered to achieve client-side or server-side code execution within the automation platform.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-25049Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-56351Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-44791Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-54306Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-42237Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-33751Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2025-56265Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-56360Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2025-68949Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-56353Same product: N8N N8N

Affected Assets

n8n
n8n
1.121.0 · 0.211.0 — 1.120.4

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Validates user-supplied expressions in workflow configuration to block malicious code execution during evaluation.

prevent

Requires timely patching to versions that fix the insufficient isolation in the expression evaluation system.

prevent

Enforces least privilege by restricting workflow creation/editing to trusted users and limiting n8n process privileges to reduce exploitation impact.

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.

PR.PS-06 full match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices explicitly include controls that prevent improper handling of dynamic code resources.

PR.PS-05 mostly match
prevents

Blocking unauthorized code execution directly limits the ability to abuse dynamically-managed resources.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime-environment monitoring can detect exploitation of the weakness but does not prevent it.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification can surface instances of CWE-913 but does not mitigate the root weakness.

PR.PS-01 partial match
prevents

Hardened configuration baselines can restrict dynamic code execution and variable access at runtime.

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.

detects

Security testing can detect dynamic code weaknesses but does not prevent them at design or coding time.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates controls on dynamic code generation and resource management.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly address restrictions on dynamic code execution and resource access.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require design controls that prevent improper dynamic code resource manipulation.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prohibit unsafe dynamic code resource handling and injection patterns.

none

Environment separation reduces exposure of dynamic code resources but does not address the underlying weakness.

References