Exploited CVEs / Apache / CVE-2020-11978
CVE-2020-11978
Apache Airflow Command Injection. Exploitation in the wild is confirmed by CISA, not predicted. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2022-07-18 (that deadline has passed); treat that date as the outer bound for your own environment. Check the vendor security advisory for the fix.
Actively exploited Apache Airflow vulnerability, High severity, CVSS 8.8. Added to the CISA KEV catalog 2022-01-18.
Risk summary
Updated July 28, 2026. Data refreshed on every build from MSRC, CISA KEV, and FIRST EPSS.
Senserva AI Opinion for CVE-2020-11978
An example DAG shipped with Apache Airflow contains a command injection flaw, meaning demo code installed alongside the product became a remote code execution vector on data-pipeline infrastructure. EPSS rates exploitation at 99 percent and CISA confirmed in-the-wild use in January 2022. Airflow servers orchestrate jobs with credentials to databases and cloud services, amplifying any compromise.
Do this: Delete or disable Airflow's example DAGs, upgrade past the fix for CVE-2020-11978, and check task logs for unrecognized executions.
AI-generated from public data, 2026-07-07. Verify against the vendor advisory before acting.
Senserva AI Opinion and rich prompt for CVE-2020-11978
Copy this prompt into Claude, ChatGPT, or Copilot. The facts are included, sourced from this page.
Full tracking and change history for CVE-2020-11978
Published and last-revised dates are authoritative, from Microsoft MSRC (or the CISA KEV date-added). Senserva additionally records day-to-day changes from 2026-07-07, refreshed several times a day; the change count reflects that forward-only tracking.
CISA required action
Federal (BOD 22-01) remediation due date: 2022-07-18 (past due).
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Official fix for CVE-2020-11978
Check the vendor's security advisory channel for the patched Airflow versions and workarounds.
Common questions about CVE-2020-11978
Is CVE-2020-11978 actively exploited?
Yes. CVE-2020-11978 was added to the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2022-01-18, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed, not predicted. Its EPSS 30-day exploitation probability is 99%.
What is the CISA deadline and required action for CVE-2020-11978?
CISA set the federal (BOD 22-01) remediation due date at 2022-07-18, which has passed; treat any unremediated system as overdue. The verbatim required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
What fixes CVE-2020-11978?
Check the vendor's security advisory for the patched Airflow versions and any workarounds. KEV listing makes this a fix-first item: patch it ahead of higher-CVSS issues nobody is exploiting.
Can I ask my own AI about CVE-2020-11978?
Yes. This page includes a free, ready-to-paste AI prompt containing CVE-2020-11978's key facts: severity, CVSS, EPSS, the KEV date, the CISA due date, and the required action. Copy it into Claude, ChatGPT, or Copilot; the data is refreshed twice a day (5 AM and 3 PM US Central).
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Authoritative references
Every actively exploited CVE, searchable with due dates and CSV export: the exploited-CVE tracker. The newest additions: exploited this week.
