CVE-2020-11981
Command injection via Celery broker in Apache Airflow
An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. When using CeleryExecutor, if an attacker can connect to the broker (Redis, RabbitMQ) directly, it is possible to inject commands, resulting in the celery worker running arbitrary commands.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. When using CeleryExecutor, if an attacker can connect to the broker (Redis, RabbitMQ) directly, it is possible to inject commands, resulting in the celery worker running arbitrary commands.
- Record
CVE-2020-11981- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.5 High
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-78
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. When using CeleryExecutor, if an attacker can connect to the broker (Redis, RabbitMQ) directly, it is possible to inject commands, resulting in the celery worker running arbitrary commands.
- Record
CVE-2020-11981- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-0033 No score
An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. When using CeleryExecutor, if an attacker can connect to the broker (Redis, RabbitMQ) directly, it is possible to inject commands, resulting in the celery worker running arbitrary commands.
- Record
EUVD-2020-0033- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-976r-qfjj-c24w
Command injection via Celery broker in Apache Airflow
An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. When using CeleryExecutor, if an attacker can connect to the broker (Redis, RabbitMQ) directly, it is possible to inject commands, resulting in the celery worker running arbitrary commands.
- Record
GHSA-976r-qfjj-c24w- CVSS 4.0
- 9.3 Critical
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-78
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. When using CeleryExecutor, if an attacker can connect to the broker (Redis, RabbitMQ) directly, it is possible to inject commands, resulting in the celery worker running arbitrary commands.
- Record
CVE-2020-11981- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-976r-qfjj-c24w
Command injection via Celery broker in Apache Airflow
An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. When using CeleryExecutor, if an attacker can connect to the broker (Redis, RabbitMQ) directly, it is possible to inject commands, resulting in the celery worker running arbitrary commands.
- Record
GHSA-976r-qfjj-c24w- CVSS 4.0
- 9.3 Critical
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-78
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVBIT-airflow-2020-11981 No score
An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. When using CeleryExecutor, if an attacker can connect to the broker (Redis, RabbitMQ) directly, it is possible to inject commands, resulting in the celery worker running arbitrary commands.
- Record
BIT-airflow-2020-11981- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2020-15 No score
An issue was found in Apache Airflow versions 1.10.10 and below. When using CeleryExecutor, if an attacker can connect to the broker (Redis, RabbitMQ) directly, it is possible to inject commands, resulting in the celery worker running arbitrary commands.
- Record
PYSEC-2020-15- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
apache-airflowPyPI |
before 1.10.11rc1 | 1.10.11rc1 |
airflowBitnami |
before 1.10.11 | 1.10.11 |
apache-airflowPyPI |
before 1.10.11rc1, plus listed versions 1.10.01.10.11.10.101.10.10rc11.10.10rc2 Show 39 moreShow less1.10.10rc31.10.10rc41.10.10rc51.10.1b11.10.1rc21.10.21.10.2b21.10.2rc11.10.2rc21.10.2rc31.10.31.10.3b11.10.3b21.10.3rc11.10.3rc21.10.41.10.4b21.10.4rc11.10.4rc21.10.4rc31.10.4rc41.10.4rc51.10.51.10.5rc11.10.61.10.6rc11.10.6rc21.10.71.10.7rc11.10.7rc21.10.7rc31.10.81.10.8rc11.10.91.10.9rc11.8.11.8.21.8.2rc11.9.0 |
1.10.11rc1 |
apache-airflowPyPI |
before 1.10.11rc1, plus listed versions 1.8.11.8.2rc11.8.21.9.01.10.0 Show 39 moreShow less1.10.1b11.10.1rc21.10.11.10.2b21.10.2rc11.10.2rc21.10.2rc31.10.21.10.3b11.10.3b21.10.3rc11.10.3rc21.10.31.10.4b21.10.4rc11.10.4rc21.10.4rc31.10.4rc41.10.4rc51.10.41.10.5rc11.10.51.10.6rc11.10.6rc21.10.61.10.7rc11.10.7rc21.10.7rc31.10.71.10.8rc11.10.81.10.9rc11.10.91.10.10rc11.10.10rc21.10.10rc31.10.10rc41.10.10rc51.10.10 |
1.10.11rc1 |
Public exploits
Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.
| Source | Link | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclei | Apache Airflow <=1.10.10 - Command Injection | |
| PoC in GitHub | Evillm/CVE-2020-11981-PoC | 2026-02-04 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, Nuclei, NVD, OSV, PoC in GitHub |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-11981 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Apache Airflow, published July 16, 2020. Public exploit code exists. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 36.8%, the 98th percentile. Fixed in apache-airflow 1.10.11rc1.
References
lists.apache.org/thread.html/r7255cf0be3566f23a768e2a04b40fb09e52fcd1872695428ba9afe91%40%3Cusers.airflow.apache.org%3E
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-11981
github.com/apache/airflow/commit/afa4b11fddfdbadb048f742cf66d5c21c675a5c8
web.archive.org/web/20220427031325/https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AIRFLOW-6351