GHSA-2434-3x6q-8r99: n8n: External Secrets Accessible via Workflow Expressions Outside Credentials
Impact
External secrets were incorrectly resolved in workflow node expressions, where they are not intended to be available. An authenticated user with project editor access could read the plaintext value of external secrets by referencing them in a node expression, without needing explicit secrets access permissions.
This issue only affects instances with the external secrets feature configured.
Patches
The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 2.27.4 and 2.28.1. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability.
Workarounds
If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations:
- Restrict project membership to fully trusted users only.
- Avoid granting editor access to projects on instances where external secrets are configured.
These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.
Details
Original advisory: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2434-3x6q-8r99
Exploitation outlook
EPSS (FIRST.org) estimates each CVE’s probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — here is the CSIRTS.com read on those numbers.
- Low exploitation riskCVE-2026-592540.27% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 18% of all scored CVEs.
Referenced CVEs
| CVE | CSIRTS overview | External |
|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-59254 | coverage & exploitation status | NVD · CVE.org |
Same CVEs, other sources
How other CERTs, PSIRTs and databases cover the vulnerabilities in this advisory.
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