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PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2020-11978 Apache CVE debrief

CVE-2020-11978 is a command injection vulnerability in Apache Airflow that CISA has placed in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. That combination makes it a high-priority issue for any organization running Airflow, because it indicates a vulnerability with real-world exploitation concern and a clear need to remediate quickly.

Vendor
Apache
Product
Airflow
CVSS
Unknown
CISA KEV
Listed
Original CVE published
2022-01-18
Original CVE updated
2022-01-18
Advisory published
2022-01-18
Advisory updated
2022-01-18

Who should care

Security and operations teams responsible for Apache Airflow deployments, especially production environments and any instance that is exposed beyond a tightly controlled internal network.

Technical summary

The available source material identifies CVE-2020-11978 as an Apache Airflow command injection issue. CISA’s KEV entry classifies it as a known exploited vulnerability and directs defenders to apply updates per vendor instructions. No further technical details were provided in the supplied corpus.

Defensive priority

High

Recommended defensive actions

  • Apply vendor updates or mitigations as instructed for Apache Airflow.
  • Inventory all Apache Airflow deployments and confirm which instances are affected.
  • Treat externally exposed or broadly accessible deployments as urgent remediation candidates.
  • Use the CVE and KEV entries to track remediation status and validate completion.
  • Review relevant security monitoring for unexpected activity around Airflow systems during the remediation window.

Evidence notes

This debrief is based only on the supplied official sources and metadata: the CVE record, NVD detail page, and CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog entry. The corpus identifies the issue as Apache Airflow command injection, marks it as a known exploited vulnerability, and provides the recommended defensive action to apply updates per vendor instructions. The published and modified dates supplied for the CVE and source item are 2022-01-18; those dates were used for timing context only.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

  • CVE-2020-11978 CVE Program record

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-11978

    CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.

  • CVE-2020-11978 NVD vulnerability detail

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-11978

    NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

  • CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog

    Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency - Official CISA catalog of vulnerabilities known to be exploited in the wild.

Supplemental references

  • Source item URL

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json

    cisa_kev

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.