Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-56776

Access Control in N8N ≤ 1.123.55

Public PoCAccess Control
Published
08 July 2026
Modified
09 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L/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 0.0016 6th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-56776 is a medium-severity Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) vulnerability in N8N N8N. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 6th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV 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.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

n8n before 1.123.55, 2.25.7, and 2.26.2 contains an authorization bypass in the POST /workflows/{workflowId}/test-runs/new endpoint, which authorizes access using the workflow:read scope instead of workflow:execute. An authenticated user with read-only access to a workflow can trigger a real evaluation test…

more

run, causing the workflow to execute via the internal workflow runner and resulting in unintended outbound API calls, data mutations, or other side effects in connected downstream systems. The issue primarily affects instances using the Evaluations feature where RBAC project roles grant workflow:read without workflow:execute.

CWE(s)

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.
T1059.009 Cloud API Execution
Adversaries may abuse cloud APIs to execute malicious commands.
Why these techniques?

The authorization bypass in the workflow test-run endpoint allows an authenticated user with only workflow:read scope to trigger actual workflow execution (T1059.009: Cloud API), enabling unintended actions such as outbound API calls and data mutations. This directly maps to exploitation of a public-facing application component (T1190) due to improper authorization enforcement (CWE-863).

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-54307Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-33722Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-65596Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-33720Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-56775Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-56778Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-56353Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2025-65964Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-25055Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2025-68949Same product: N8N N8N

Affected Assets

n8n
n8n
≤ 1.123.55 · 2.0.0 — 2.25.7 · 2.26.0 — 2.26.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
  • AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Enforces that the workflow:execute permission is required before the POST /workflows/{workflowId}/test-runs/new endpoint will invoke the workflow runner, directly blocking the authorization bypass.

prevent

Ensures users are granted only the minimum privileges needed, so read-only workflow:read roles cannot trigger execution side-effects in downstream systems.

prevent

Enforces information-flow policy between the API endpoint and the workflow runner so that a read-only token cannot cause execution or data mutations.

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.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Defining, enforcing, and reviewing access authorizations and least privilege directly prevents incorrect authorization checks.

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

Requiring consistency between access rights and classification plus formal approval steps ensures that the authorization logic correctly distinguishes between entities that should and should not be granted access.

prevents

Enforcing policy-driven approval and role-change reviews stops incorrect or stale authorization decisions from remaining in effect after job changes or terminations.

prevents

By tying access rights to identity, device, location and classification, the control reduces the likelihood that an authorization decision will be based on an incorrect or bypassed policy.

References