CVE-2026-42231

Workarounds

If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations:

• Limit workflow creation and editing permissions to fully trusted users only.

These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.

n8n has adopted CVSS 4.0 as primary score for all security advisories. CVSS 3.1 vector strings are provided for backwards compatibility.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

A flaw in the xml2js library used to parse XML request bodies in n8n's webhook handler allowed prototype pollution via a crafted XML payload. An authenticated user with permission to create or modify workflows could exploit this to pollute the JavaScript object prototype and, by chaining the pollution with the Git node's SSH operations, achieve remote code execution on the n8n host.

CVE-2026-42231 has a CVSS score of 10.0 (Critical). The vector is network-reachable, no 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 (1.123.32, 2.18.1, 2.17.4); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 1.123.32, 2.17.4, and 2.18.1. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability.

1. What is CVE-2026-42231? CVE-2026-42231 is a critical-severity security vulnerability in n8n (npm), affecting versions < 1.123.32. It is fixed in 1.123.32, 2.18.1, 2.17.4.
2. How severe is CVE-2026-42231? CVE-2026-42231 has a CVSS score of 10.0 (Critical). 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.
3. Which versions of n8n are affected by CVE-2026-42231? n8n (npm) versions < 1.123.32 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-42231? Yes. CVE-2026-42231 is fixed in 1.123.32, 2.18.1, 2.17.4. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2026-42231 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-42231 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
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2026-42231 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.
7. How do I fix CVE-2026-42231?
   • Upgrade n8n to 1.123.32 or later
   • Upgrade n8n to 2.18.1 or later
   • Upgrade n8n to 2.17.4 or later