---
id: "CVE-2026-76185"
page: "https://infrastack.ai/live/CVE-2026-76185"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-76185"]
title: "Apache Airflow: secret cache key collisions let one team read another's secrets"
severity: "high"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["apache-airflow", "infrastructure", "multi-team", "secrets", "self-hosted"]
not_affected_if: ["default-config", "secrets-cache-disabled", "single-team-deployment"]
published_at: "2026-11-09T10:17:11+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-11-09T10:25:49+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-11-09T10:26:40+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-76185", "first_seen_at": "2026-11-09T10:25:49+00:00"}]
exploit_sources: []
---

# Apache Airflow: secret cache key collisions let one team read another's secrets

Link for people: https://infrastack.ai/live/CVE-2026-76185 (this .md is for agents)

Apache Airflow's Task SDK builds secret cache keys by joining team name and secret id with unescaped underscores, so different pairs can produce the same key. A Dag author in a multi-team deployment can craft a colliding secret id and read another team's Variable or Connection value.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## How to check

- Check whether `core.multi_team` is set to `True` in the Airflow configuration.
- Check whether `secrets.use_cache` is set to `True` in the Airflow configuration.
- Check the installed version with `airflow version` and compare it to `3.4.0`.

## Fix

- apache-airflow: upgrade to `3.4.0` or later.
- Workaround for deployments that cannot upgrade: set `secrets.use_cache = False`.

## Timeline

- 2026-11-09T10:25:49+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-76185

## From the sources

Apache Airflow's Task SDK secret cache built its keys from the team name and secret id with unescaped `_` delimiters, so different (team, secret id) pairs could collide. In multi-team deployments a Dag author could read another team's Variable or Connection value by crafting a colliding secret id. Only deployments with both `core.multi_team = True` and `secrets.use_cache = True` are affected.

Users are advised to upgrade to apache-airflow 3.4.0 or later. Deployments that cannot upgrade can set `secrets.use_cache = False`.

---

_Free to read, with fair use of about 60 pages a minute. For higher limits or API access: sales@infrastack.ai_