Threats / Apache / CVE-2020-13927
CVE-2020-13927
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Apache Airflow's Experimental API vulnerability
Apache Airflow's Experimental API allowed unauthenticated access by default, enabling unauthorized API requests without credentials.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
An authentication bypass in Apache Airflow's Experimental API permitted unrestricted access to API functionality without authentication. The default configuration exposed the API to unauthenticated requests, allowing attackers to interact with Airflow systems without valid credentials.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-01-184EPSS 0.99778 (verify live)5CVSS 9.8 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Impact: total3Exploit Weaponized · public exploit · Metasploit module · nuclei template8
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
1 independent public report of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-01-18).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.99778 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 9.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: Apache, Airflow's Experimental API. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-1188 Insecure Default Initialization, CWE-306 Missing Authentication — weakness family: Authorization / access control, Authentication.CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 434 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a functional/weaponized public exploit). Catalog entries: Metasploit module, nuclei template. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
WeaknessCWE-1188 · Insecure Default InitializationCWE-306 · Missing AuthenticationAuthorization / access control, Authentication
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I discover the Experimental API endpoint is accessible without authentication credentials.
Business
Unauthorized parties gain direct access to Airflow API controls and data.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I craft API requests to query, modify, or trigger Airflow workflows and configurations.
Business
Attackers can alter scheduled tasks, extract sensitive workflow information, or disrupt operations.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I leverage API access to escalate privileges or pivot to connected systems and data stores.
Business
Compromise expands beyond Airflow to dependent infrastructure and sensitive data repositories.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05