CVE-2025-68613
N8N 0.211.0 – 1.120.4
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
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 Reflective Code Loading (T1620); 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-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — 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
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-204618
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 Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Access enforcement directly stops unauthorized reads/writes to dynamic code resources by applying authorization checks at access time.
Least privilege reduces the set of subjects that can reach or modify dynamic code resources, limiting the weakness's reach.
Isolating security functions from non-security code prevents unintended manipulation of dynamically managed executable resources.
Process isolation keeps each process's dynamic code resources in separate domains, blocking cross-process tampering.
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.
Secure SDLC practices explicitly include controls that prevent improper handling of dynamic code resources.
Blocking unauthorized code execution directly limits the ability to abuse dynamically-managed resources.
Runtime-environment monitoring can detect exploitation of the weakness but does not prevent it.
Vulnerability identification can surface instances of CWE-913 but does not mitigate the root weakness.
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.
Security testing can detect dynamic code weaknesses but does not prevent them at design or coding time.
Secure development lifecycle mandates controls on dynamic code generation and resource management.
Application security requirements explicitly address restrictions on dynamic code execution and resource access.
Secure architecture principles require design controls that prevent improper dynamic code resource manipulation.
Secure coding standards directly prohibit unsafe dynamic code resource handling and injection patterns.
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).
Windows 10 (1 rule)
- V-220726 Data Execution Prevention (DEP) must be configured to at least OptOut. prevents CWE-913