What this actually is.
Technical background, root cause, and affected surface.
SFTPHook.retrieve_directory / SFTPOperator(operation=get) in the Apache Airflow SFTP provider before 5.8.1 joins server-supplied directory-entry names to the local destination path without validation, letting a malicious or compromised SFTP server write files outside the configured destination directory. No Airflow account is required.
- Product
- Apache Airflow SFTP provider
- Vendor
- Apache
- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS Score
- 9.1
- Status
- Published
- Vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
- CWE
- CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
From one request
to root shell.
Reproduced in a sandboxed environment. Requires only LAN or WiFi adjacency.
The bug, and the fix.
apache-airflow-providers-sftp: SFTPHook.retrieve_directory() / SFTPOperator(operation='get') - local path built from remote entry names without normalisation or containment check
What an attacker does to you.
Post-exploitation outcomes mapped to CVSS impact metrics.
Arbitrary file write on the Airflow worker, potentially leading to code execution
C:H · I:H · A:N
CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Fix it. In this order.
A runbook, not a checklist. Sequence matters — assume compromise before you act.
Upgrade apache-airflow-providers-sftp to 5.8.1 or later (PR #67985).
disclose@securin.ioVendors moved in days.
Attackers in hours.
Reconstructed from vendor advisories, CISA bulletins, and Securin research records.
Reported to vendor
Fixed release published (apache-airflow-providers-sftp 5.8.1)
Vendor advisory published
CVE published to MITRE
Disclosed 33 days after discovery
Cite, verify, go deeper.
Primary sources — NVD, CISA KEV, and machine-readable IoC feed.