Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-27498

RCE in N8N ≤ 1.123.8

Published
25 February 2026
Modified
04 March 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 9.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0072 51th percentile
Risk Priority 41 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-27498 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in N8N N8N. Its CVSS base score is 9.0 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 49% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) 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-2026-27498 is a remote code execution vulnerability (CWE-94) affecting n8n, an open source workflow automation platform, in versions prior to 2.2.0 and 1.123.8. The flaw arises from the ability of authenticated users with permission to create or modify workflows to chain the Read/Write Files from Disk node with git operations. By writing to specific configuration files and triggering a git operation, attackers can execute arbitrary shell commands on the n8n host. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and was published on 2026-02-25.

An authenticated attacker with workflow creation or modification permissions can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. Successful exploitation grants full remote code execution on the underlying n8n host, potentially allowing complete compromise including data exfiltration, persistence, or lateral movement.

The issue is fixed in n8n versions 2.2.0 and 1.123.8; users should upgrade to these or later versions for remediation. As temporary mitigations, administrators can limit workflow creation and editing permissions to fully trusted users only and/or disable the Read/Write Files from Disk node by setting the `n8n-nodes-base.readWriteFile` value in the `NODES_EXCLUDE` environment variable. These workarounds do not fully eliminate the risk and are intended for short-term use only. Relevant details are available in the n8n security advisory (GHSA-x2mw-7j39-93xq) and associated GitHub commits and release notes.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to versions 2.2.0 and 1.123.8, an authenticated user with permission to create or modify workflows could chain the Read/Write Files from Disk node with git operations to achieve remote code execution.…

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By writing to specific configuration files and then triggering a git operation, the attacker could execute arbitrary shell commands on the n8n host. The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 2.2.0 and 1.123.8. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability. 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 disable the Read/Write Files from Disk node by adding `n8n-nodes-base.readWriteFile` to the `NODES_EXCLUDE` environment variable. These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.002 AppleScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse AppleScript for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.005 Visual Basic Execution
Adversaries may abuse Visual Basic (VB) for execution.
T1059.006 Python Execution
Adversaries may abuse Python commands and scripts for execution.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-27577Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-27495Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-42234Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-33660Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-0863Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-27497Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-27493Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-21877Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-1470Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2025-68613Same product: N8N N8N

Affected Assets

n8n
n8n
≤ 1.123.8 · 2.0.0 — 2.2.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.3.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation finds code paths that accept and execute externally influenced strings.

Input validation directly stops untrusted data from being used to construct executable code without neutralization.

Least privilege limits the damage an injected code fragment can perform once executed.

Requiring documented secure development standards and tools enforces use of safe code-generation APIs and escaping.

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 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).

PR.DS-10 none match
prevents

PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.

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.

prevents

Banning unapproved code samples and unauthenticated web services, combined with secure-coding standards and SAST, prevents the dynamic generation or inclusion of attacker-supplied code.

none

Controls that restrict unauthorized or malicious code from being introduced via external networks or removable media limit opportunities for an attacker to inject and execute arbitrary code.

References