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Full vulnerability report · 2026
CVE-2026-33665High confidence

n8n: LDAP Email-Based Account Linking Allows Privilege Escalation and Account Takeover

n8n-io · n8n

8.8HighCVSS 4.0
Recommended action
Within 7 days

High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Mitigation available
Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Select the national-authority views to include. The exact source language is shown on each matched advisory. Your choice is remembered on this device and encoded in the shareable URL.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2026-15944

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionWithin 7 days

High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Mitigation available
01

What, why and how

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to versions 2.4.0 and 1.121.0, when LDAP authentication is enabled, n8n automatically linked an LDAP identity to an existing local account if the LDAP email attribute matched the local account's email. An authenticated LDAP user who could control their own LDAP email attribute could set it to match another user's email — including an administrator's — and upon login gain full access to that account. The account linkage persisted even if the LDAP email was later reverted, resulting in a permanent account takeover. LDAP authentication must be configured and active (non-default). The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 2.4.0 and 1.121.0. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations: Disable LDAP authentication until the instance can be upgraded, restrict LDAP directory permissions so that users cannot modify their own email attributes, and/or audit existing LDAP-linked accounts for unexpected account associations. These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.

What

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to versions 2.4.0 and 1.121.0, when LDAP authentication is enabled, n8n automatically linked an LDAP identity to an existing local account if the LDAP email attribute matched the local account's email. An authenticated LDAP user who could control their own LDAP email attribute could set it to match another user's email — including an administrator's — and upon login gain full access to that account. The account linkage persisted even if the LDAP email was later reverted, resulting in a permanent account takeover. LDAP authentication must be configured and active (non-default). The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 2.4.0 and 1.121.0. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations: Disable LDAP authentication until the instance can be upgraded, restrict LDAP directory permissions so that users cannot modify their own email attributes, and/or audit existing LDAP-linked accounts for unexpected account associations. These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.

Why

The affected component does not establish the requesting party's identity reliably before granting access.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may bypass an access boundary or take over an account.

What

n8n is an open source workflow automation platform. Prior to versions 2.4.0 and 1.121.0, when LDAP authentication is enabled, n8n automatically linked an LDAP identity to an existing local account if the LDAP email attribute matched the local account's email. An authenticated LDAP user who could control their own LDAP email attribute could set it to match another user's email — including an administrator's — and upon login gain full access to that account. The account linkage persisted even if the LDAP email was later reverted, resulting in a permanent account takeover. LDAP authentication must be configured and active (non-default). The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 2.4.0 and 1.121.0. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability. If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations: Disable LDAP authentication until the instance can be upgraded, restrict LDAP directory permissions so that users cannot modify their own email attributes, and/or audit existing LDAP-linked accounts for unexpected account associations. These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.

Why

The affected component does not establish the requesting party's identity reliably before granting access.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may bypass an access boundary or take over an account.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
a network path → Improper Authentication → bypass an access boundary or take over an account
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Not a CVSS 4.0 base metric
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-287

CWE-287: Improper Authentication. When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:L

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 4.0: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.ATPresentAttack requirements: A particular deployment or execution condition must be present.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.VCHighVulnerable-system confidentiality: A successful attack can cause a major loss.VIHighVulnerable-system integrity: A successful attack can cause a major loss.VANoneVulnerable-system availability: No direct loss is represented by this metric.SCHighSubsequent-system confidentiality: A successful attack can cause a major loss.SIHighSubsequent-system integrity: A successful attack can cause a major loss.SALowSubsequent-system availability: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
Stolen credentials, tokens and legitimate administration functions may provide continued access without deploying a large custom toolset.
NetworkCWE-287
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

BSI · German · WID-SEC-W-2026-0877n8n: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in n8n ausnutzen, um erweiterte Privilegien, einschließlich Administratorrechte, zu erlangen, um beliebigen Code auszuführen, Daten zu manipulieren, Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen, vertrauliche Informationen offenzulegen oder Cross-Site- und Man-in-the-Middle-Angriffe durchzuführen.

Official advisory
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Mitigation available
Affected
< 1.121.0; >= 2.0.0-rc.0, < 2.4.0
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
Apply the mitigation in the linked authoritative guidance while planning the vendor's permanent fix.
Workaround
A mitigation or workaround reference is available from the source linked below; validate it against the affected product and version.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 25 Mar 2026 · Last source change 27 Mar 2026, 14:55 UTC · CWE-287 · Improper Authentication

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-15944
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD enriched

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates →

No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.

Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2026-33665 · cve.blacktree.nl