CVE-2020-13927

Exp

The previous default setting for Airflow's Experimental API was to allow all API requests without authentication, but this poses security risks to users who miss this fact. From Airflow 1.10.11 the default has been changed to deny all requests by default and is documented at https://airflow.apache.org/docs/1.10.11/security.html#api-authentication. Note this change fixes it for new installs but existing users need to change their config to default `[api]auth_backend = airflow.api.auth.backend.deny_all` as mentioned in the Updating Guide: https://github.com/apache/airflow/blob/1.10.11/UPDATING.md#experimental-api-will-deny-all-request-by-default

Published: 2020-11-10 Last update: 2025-10-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-13927 is rated Critical Active Threat (99.4/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 94.10%, 100th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2022-01-18) affecting Apache / Airflow's Experimental API. a weakness (CWE-1056) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2020-13927

Name: Apache Airflow's Experimental API Authentication Bypass · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2022-01-18

Action due: 2022-07-18

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2020-13927

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
49927 exploit_db edb 2021-06-02 Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-13927

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-04 93.86% 94.10% +0.25%
2 2026-03-01 94.10% 93.86% -0.25%
3 2026-02-27 — 94.10% —

Full EPSS history (60 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-13927

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-13927

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-13927

GHSA-hhx9-p69v-cx2j · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: pip — Authentication bypass in Apache Airflow

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-13927

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache airflow < 1.10.11 cpe:2.3:a:apache:airflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-13927

cvelogic Threat Intelligence