Cyber Posture

CVE-2026-21877

CriticalRCE

Published: 08 January 2026

Published
08 January 2026
Modified
20 January 2026
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score 9.9 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.1074 93.4th percentile
Risk Priority 26 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2026-21877 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) 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 6.6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 CM-7 (Least Functionality) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).

Threat & Defense at a Glance

What attackers do: exploitation maps to Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190). What defenders deploy: see the NIST 800-53 controls recommended below.
Threat & Defense Details

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI

prevent

Directly mitigates CVE-2026-21877 by requiring timely remediation of the specific code execution flaw through patching to version 1.121.3.

prevent

Reduces exposure to the vulnerability by disabling unnecessary features like the Git node, as recommended in the advisory.

prevent

Prevents code injection attacks (CWE-94) underlying CVE-2026-21877 by validating inputs to the n8n service for malicious code.

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-2026-21877 enables authenticated remote code execution in the public-facing n8n workflow automation platform via improper code generation control and unrestricted file upload, directly facilitating T1190: Exploit Public-Facing Application.

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

NVD Description

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. In versions 0.121.2 and below, an authenticated attacker may be able to execute malicious code using the n8n service. This could result in full compromise and can impact both self-hosted and n8n…

more

Cloud instances. This issue is fixed in version 1.121.3. Administrators can reduce exposure by disabling the Git node and limiting access for untrusted users, but upgrading to the latest version is recommended.

Deeper analysisAI

CVE-2026-21877 is a critical code execution vulnerability (CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code, CWE-434: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type) affecting n8n, an open source workflow automation platform. Versions 0.121.2 and prior are vulnerable, allowing an authenticated attacker to execute malicious code through the n8n service. The issue impacts both self-hosted instances and n8n Cloud deployments, with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.9 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).

An authenticated attacker with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution on the n8n service, potentially leading to full system compromise, including high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability due to the changed scope.

The vulnerability is fixed in n8n version 1.121.3. Advisories recommend upgrading to the latest version as the primary mitigation, with interim workarounds including disabling the Git node and restricting access for untrusted users to reduce exposure. Details are available in the n8n security advisory (GHSA-v364-rw7m-3263) and the fixing commit (f4b009d00d1f4ba9359b8e8f1c071e3d910a55f6).

Details

CWE(s)

Affected Products

n8n
n8n
0.123.0 — 1.121.3

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References