Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-86473

Apache Airflow 3.0.0 – 3.3.2

Published
21 September 2026
Modified
25 September 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0075 53th percentile
Risk Priority 68 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-86473 is a critical-severity Insufficient Session Expiration (CWE-613) vulnerability in Apache Airflow. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Browser Session Hijacking (T1185); ranked in the top 47% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-12 (Session Termination) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Apache Airflow: the Core API logout endpoint revokes only a session token presented as the _token cookie. When a client logs out presenting its credential as an Authorization bearer header instead, the endpoint returns its normal logout response but revokes…

more

nothing, so the token remains valid until it expires. An attacker who already holds a copy of that token keeps the victim's access after the victim has logged out and believes the session ended; the default token lifetime is 24 hours and is configurable. Affects API clients that authenticate with a bearer token rather than the browser session cookie. The attacker must already possess a copy of a valid token; obtaining one is outside the scope of this issue, and no privileges beyond the victim's own are gained. Users of apache-airflow are recommended to upgrade to apache-airflow version 3.3.2 or later, which fixes the issue.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1185 Browser Session Hijacking Collection
Adversaries may take advantage of security vulnerabilities and inherent functionality in browser software to change content, modify user-behaviors, and intercept information as part of various browser session hijacking techniques.
T1539 Steal Web Session Cookie Credential Access
An adversary may steal web application or service session cookies and use them to gain access to web applications or Internet services as an authenticated user without needing credentials.
T1550 Use Alternate Authentication Material Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use alternate authentication material, such as password hashes, Kerberos tickets, and application access tokens, in order to move laterally within an environment and bypass normal system access controls.
T1550.004 Web Session Cookie Lateral Movement
Adversaries can use stolen session cookies to authenticate to web applications and services.
T1563 Remote Service Session Hijacking Lateral Movement
Adversaries may take control of preexisting sessions with remote services to move laterally in an environment.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-57735Same product: Apache Airflow
CVE-2026-48726Same product: Apache Airflow
CVE-2024-42447Same product: Apache Airflow
CVE-2023-40273Same product: Apache Airflow
CVE-2024-39863Same product: Apache Airflow
CVE-2023-47265Same product: Apache Airflow
CVE-2023-29247Same product: Apache Airflow
CVE-2024-32077Same product: Apache Airflow
CVE-2024-41937Same product: Apache Airflow
CVE-2026-41017Same product: Apache Airflow

Affected Assets

apache
airflow
3.0.0 — 3.3.2

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-12 directly requires automatic session termination after a defined period, structurally preventing reuse of expired session identifiers.

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-01 partial match
prevents

Credential lifecycle management directly includes enforcing session expiration to prevent reuse.

PR.AA-03 partial match
prevents

Authentication mechanisms can incorporate session timeout checks but do not inherently address expiration policy.

PR.AA-05 partial match
prevents

Authorization policy enforcement and review covers terminating stale sessions to limit access scope.

References