Summary
Improper Preservation of Permissions vulnerability in Apache Airflow. This issue affects Apache Airflow from 2.8.2 through 2.8.3.
Airflow's local file task handler in Airflow incorrectly set permissions for all parent folders of log folder, in default configuration adding write access to Unix group of the folders. In the case Airflow is run with the root user (not recommended) it added group write permission to all folders up to the root of the filesystem.
If your log files are stored in the home directory, these permission changes might impact your ability to run SSH operations after your home directory becomes group-writeable.
This issue does not affect users who use or extend Airflow using Official Airflow Docker reference images ( https://hub.docker.com/r/apache/airflow/ ) - those images require to have group write permission set anyway.
You are affected only if you install Airflow using local installation / virtualenv or other Docker images, but the issue has no impact if docker containers are used as intended, i.e. where Airflow components do not share containers with other applications and users.
Also you should not be affected if your umask is 002 (group write enabled) - this is the default on many linux systems.
Recommendation for users using Airflow outside of the containers:
- if you are using root to run Airflow, change your Airflow user to use non-root
- upgrade Apache Airflow to 2.8.4 or above
- If you prefer not to upgrade, you can change the https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/stable/configurations-ref.html#file-task-handler-new-folder-permissions to 0o755 (original value 0o775).
- if you already ran Airflow tasks before and your default umask is 022 (group write disabled) you should stop Airflow components, check permissions of AIRFLOW_HOME/logs in all your components and all parent directories of this directory and remove group write access for all the parent directories
Impact
CVE-2024-29735 has a CVSS score of 5.3 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (2.8.4); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
Remediation advice
Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2024-29735? CVE-2024-29735 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in apache-airflow (pip), affecting versions >= 2.8.2, < 2.8.4. It is fixed in 2.8.4.
- How severe is CVE-2024-29735? CVE-2024-29735 has a CVSS score of 5.3 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of apache-airflow are affected by CVE-2024-29735? apache-airflow (pip) versions >= 2.8.2, < 2.8.4 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2024-29735? Yes. CVE-2024-29735 is fixed in 2.8.4. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2024-29735 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-29735 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2024-29735 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2024-29735? Upgrade
apache-airflowto 2.8.4 or later.