Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-56778

Access Control in N8N ≤ 2.25.7

Public PoCAccess Control
Published
08 July 2026
Modified
08 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:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N/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 0.0017 7th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-56778 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 Local Accounts (T1078.003); ranked at the 7th 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 2.25.7 and 2.26.x before 2.26.2 contains an authorization bypass in the Public API execution retry endpoint, which authorizes access using the workflow:read scope instead of workflow:execute. An authenticated user with read-only access to a shared workflow can use…

more

the Public API to retry executions of that workflow, bypassing the intended permission boundary between read and execute access. This affects instances where workflows are shared with other users or across projects.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1078.003 Local Accounts Stealth
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of a local account as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
Why these techniques?

The authorization bypass allows an authenticated user with only workflow:read scope to invoke the retry endpoint (workflow:execute action), enabling privilege escalation from read-only to execution rights on shared workflows. This maps to T1078.003 (Local Accounts) for abuse of valid but insufficiently privileged accounts and T1068 (Exploitation for Privilege Escalation) for bypassing permission boundaries.

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-56775Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-54307Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-33722Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-65596Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-65015Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-33720Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-56776Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-65594Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2025-68697Same product: N8N N8N
CVE-2026-65016Same product: N8N N8N

Affected Assets

n8n
n8n
≤ 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 the correct workflow:execute permission on the retry endpoint instead of accepting the weaker workflow:read scope.

prevent

Restricts the retry action to the minimum privileges required, preventing a read-only user from performing an execute-level operation.

prevent

Ensures information-flow policy between read and execute scopes is enforced at the API boundary so a read token cannot trigger execution.

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