CVE-2026-86081

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to 1.123.76, 2.37.7, and 2.38.2, the Git node clone operation matched an attacker-controlled destination path against the default N8N_BLOCK_FILE_PATTERNS regular expression. The pattern ^(./).git(/.)$ allowed catastrophic backtracking and ran synchronously in the main n8n process. An authenticated workflow editor could therefore freeze the instance with one workflow execution; the affected default is declared in packages/@n8n/config/src/configs/security.config.ts. This issue is fixed in versions 1.123.76, 2.37.7 and 2.38.2.

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to 1.123.76, 2.37.7, and 2.38.2, the Git node clone operation matched an attacker-controlled destination path against the default N8N_BLOCK_FILE_PATTERNS regular expression. The pattern ^(./).git(/.)$ allowed catastrophic backtracking and ran synchronously in the main n8n process. An authenticated workflow editor could therefore freeze the instance with one workflow execution; the affected default is declared in packages/@n8n/config/src/configs/security.config.ts. This issue is fixed in versions 1.123.76, 2.37.7 and 2.38.2.

Impact

The Git node's clone operation matched the destination path against the default N8N_BLOCK_FILE_PATTERNS expression, which was written so that a crafted path caused catastrophic backtracking. Evaluation runs synchronously in the main n8n process, so an authenticated user could freeze the instance for everyone with a single workflow execution and no unusual configuration. The patch rewrites the pattern so that matching is linear in the length of the path.

Patches

The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 1.123.76, 2.37.7, and 2.38.2. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability.

Workarounds

If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations:

• Restrict n8n instance access to fully trusted users only.
• Disable the Git node by adding n8n-nodes-base.git to the NODES_EXCLUDE environment variable.
• Set N8N_BLOCK_FILE_PATTERNS to a backtracking-safe equivalent pattern to replace the vulnerable default.

These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to 1.123.76, 2.37.7, and 2.38.2, the Git node clone operation matched an attacker-controlled destination path against the default N8N_BLOCK_FILE_PATTERNS regular expression. The pattern ^(./).git(/.)$ allowed catastrophic backtracking and ran synchronously in the main n8n process. An authenticated workflow editor could therefore freeze the instance with one workflow execution; the affected default is declared in packages/@n8n/config/src/configs/security.config.ts. This issue is fixed in versions 1.123.76, 2.37.7 and 2.38.2.

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to 1.123.76, 2.37.7, and 2.38.2, the Git node clone operation matched an attacker-controlled destination path against the default N8N_BLOCK_FILE_PATTERNS regular expression. The pattern ^(./).git(/.)$ allowed catastrophic backtracking and ran synchronously in the main n8n process. An authenticated workflow editor could therefore freeze the instance with one workflow execution; the affected default is declared in packages/@n8n/config/src/configs/security.config.ts. This issue is fixed in versions 1.123.76, 2.37.7 and 2.38.2.

Impact

The Git node's clone operation matched the destination path against the default N8N_BLOCK_FILE_PATTERNS expression, which was written so that a crafted path caused catastrophic backtracking. Evaluation runs synchronously in the main n8n process, so an authenticated user could freeze the instance for everyone with a single workflow execution and no unusual configuration. The patch rewrites the pattern so that matching is linear in the length of the path.

Patches

The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 1.123.76, 2.37.7, and 2.38.2. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability.

Workarounds

If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations:

• Restrict n8n instance access to fully trusted users only.
• Disable the Git node by adding n8n-nodes-base.git to the NODES_EXCLUDE environment variable.
• Set N8N_BLOCK_FILE_PATTERNS to a backtracking-safe equivalent pattern to replace the vulnerable default.

These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.

Root has patched CVE-2026-86081 in the n8n package for Root:npm. Multiple fixed versions available.