CVE-2026-33722 [High] | Security Bypass in N8n

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to versions 2.6.4 and 1.123.23, an authenticated user without permission to list external secrets could reference a secret by the external name in a credential and retrieve its plaintext value when saving the credential. This bypassed the `externalSecret:list` permission check and allowed access to secrets stored in connected vaults without admin or owner privileges. This issue requires the instance to have an external secrets vault configured. The attacker must know or be able to guess the name of a target secret. The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 1.123.23 and 2.6.4. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations: Restrict n8n access to fully trusted users only, and/or disable external secrets integration until the patch can be applied. These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-03-26	—	0.01%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-03-26

—

0.01%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
7.3	4.0	HIGH	`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network. Attack complexity (AC:L) Exploitation conditions are straightforward and stable. Attack requirements (AT:P) Additional preconditions must be present for exploitation. Privileges required (PR:L) Low privileges are required. User interaction (UI:N) No user interaction is required. Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:H) High confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system. Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:N) No integrity impact on the vulnerable system. Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:N) No availability impact on the vulnerable system. Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:H) High confidentiality impact on subsequent systems. Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:H) High integrity impact on subsequent systems. Subsequent system availability impact (SA:H) High availability impact on subsequent systems. Exploit maturity (threat) (E:X) Not defined: no reliable threat intelligence; scoring assumes the worst case (equivalent to Attacked). Confidentiality requirement (CR:X) Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case). Integrity requirement (IR:X) Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case). Availability requirement (AR:X) Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case). Modified attack vector (MAV:X) Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Vector (AV). Modified attack complexity (MAC:X) Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Complexity (AC). Modified attack requirements (MAT:X) Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Requirements (AT). Modified privileges required (MPR:X) Not defined: scoring uses the Base Privileges Required (PR). Modified user interaction (MUI:X) Not defined: scoring uses the Base User Interaction (UI). Modified vulnerable system confidentiality impact (MVC:X) Not defined: scoring uses the Base VC metric. Modified vulnerable system integrity impact (MVI:X) Not defined: scoring uses the Base VI metric. Modified vulnerable system availability impact (MVA:X) Not defined: scoring uses the Base VA metric. Modified subsequent system confidentiality impact (MSC:X) Not defined: scoring uses the Base SC metric. Modified subsequent system integrity impact (MSI:X) Not defined: scoring uses the Base SI metric. Modified subsequent system availability impact (MSA:X) Not defined: scoring uses the Base SA metric. Safety (supplemental) (S:X) Not evaluated. Automatable (supplemental) (AU:X) Not evaluated. Recovery (supplemental) (R:X) Not evaluated. Value density (supplemental) (V:X) Not evaluated. Vulnerability response effort (supplemental) (RE:X) Not evaluated. Provider urgency (supplemental) (U:X) Not evaluated.	—	—	[email protected]
5.3	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N` 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:H) Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. 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:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:N) Service keeps running; no real outage angle.	1.6	3.6	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

7.3

4.0

HIGH

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Exploitation conditions are straightforward and stable.
Attack requirements (AT:P): Additional preconditions must be present for exploitation.
Privileges required (PR:L): Low privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:N): No user interaction is required.
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:H): High confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:N): No integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:N): No availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:H): High confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:H): High integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:H): High availability impact on subsequent systems.
Exploit maturity (threat) (E:X): Not defined: no reliable threat intelligence; scoring assumes the worst case (equivalent to Attacked).
Confidentiality requirement (CR:X): Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Integrity requirement (IR:X): Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Availability requirement (AR:X): Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Modified attack vector (MAV:X): Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Vector (AV).
Modified attack complexity (MAC:X): Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Complexity (AC).
Modified attack requirements (MAT:X): Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Requirements (AT).
Modified privileges required (MPR:X): Not defined: scoring uses the Base Privileges Required (PR).
Modified user interaction (MUI:X): Not defined: scoring uses the Base User Interaction (UI).
Modified vulnerable system confidentiality impact (MVC:X): Not defined: scoring uses the Base VC metric.
Modified vulnerable system integrity impact (MVI:X): Not defined: scoring uses the Base VI metric.
Modified vulnerable system availability impact (MVA:X): Not defined: scoring uses the Base VA metric.
Modified subsequent system confidentiality impact (MSC:X): Not defined: scoring uses the Base SC metric.
Modified subsequent system integrity impact (MSI:X): Not defined: scoring uses the Base SI metric.
Modified subsequent system availability impact (MSA:X): Not defined: scoring uses the Base SA metric.
Safety (supplemental) (S:X): Not evaluated.
Automatable (supplemental) (AU:X): Not evaluated.
Recovery (supplemental) (R:X): Not evaluated.
Value density (supplemental) (V:X): Not evaluated.
Vulnerability response effort (supplemental) (RE:X): Not evaluated.
Provider urgency (supplemental) (U:X): Not evaluated.

—

[email protected]

5.3

3.1

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:H): Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N): Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

1.6

3.6

[email protected]

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-33722

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
n8n	n8n	< 1.123.23	cpe:2.3:a:n8n:n8n::::::node.js::*
n8n	n8n	>= 2.0.0, < 2.6.4	cpe:2.3:a:n8n:n8n::::::node.js::*

References for CVE-2026-33722

URL	Tags
https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/security/advisories/GHSA-fxcw-h3qj-8m8p	Vendor Advisory Mitigation

URL

CVE-2026-33722 | n8n Has External Secrets Authorization Bypass in Credential Saving

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-33722

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-33722

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-33722

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-33722

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-33722

References for CVE-2026-33722