What is CVE-2026-86081?

CVE-2026-86081 is a high-severity inefficient regular expression (ReDoS) vulnerability in n8n (npm), affecting versions < 1.123.76. It is fixed in 1.123.76, 2.38.2, 2.37.7. A regular expression with worst-case exponential or polynomial matching time is applied to untrusted input, causing excessive CPU use.

Which versions of n8n are affected by CVE-2026-86081?

n8n (npm) versions < 1.123.76 is affected.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-86081?

Yes. CVE-2026-86081 is fixed in 1.123.76, 2.38.2, 2.37.7. Upgrade to this version or later.

Is CVE-2026-86081 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether CVE-2026-86081 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.

What actually determines whether CVE-2026-86081 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-2026-86081?

Upgrade: n8n to 1.123.76 or later, n8n to 2.38.2 or later, n8n to 2.37.7 or later.

CVE-2026-86081 in n8n

Q: Which versions of n8n are affected by CVE-2026-86081?

n8n (npm) versions < 1.123.76 is affected.

Q: Is there a fix for CVE-2026-86081?

Yes. CVE-2026-86081 is fixed in 1.123.76, 2.38.2, 2.37.7. Upgrade to this version or later.

Q: Is CVE-2026-86081 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether CVE-2026-86081 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.

Q: What actually determines whether CVE-2026-86081 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.

Q: How do I fix CVE-2026-86081?

Upgrade: n8n to 1.123.76 or later, n8n to 2.38.2 or later, n8n to 2.37.7 or later.

Summary

n8n: Regular Expression Denial of Service in the Default Blocked-File-Pattern Match via a Git Node Clone Path

Workarounds

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

Restrict n8n instance access to fully trusted users only.
Disable the Git node by adding n8n-nodes-base.git to the NODES_EXCLUDE environment variable.
Set N8N_BLOCK_FILE_PATTERNS to a backtracking-safe equivalent pattern to replace the vulnerable default.

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

Impact

The Git node's clone operation matched the destination path against the default N8N_BLOCK_FILE_PATTERNS expression, which was written so that a crafted path caused catastrophic backtracking. Evaluation runs synchronously in the main n8n process, so an authenticated user could freeze the instance for everyone with a single workflow execution and no unusual configuration. The patch rewrites the pattern so that matching is linear in the length of the path.

A regular expression with worst-case exponential or polynomial matching time is applied to untrusted input, causing excessive CPU use. Typical impact: denial of service when input is crafted to trigger backtracking.

Affected versions

n8n (< 1.123.76) n8n (>= 2.38.0, < 2.38.2) n8n (>= 2.0.0, < 2.37.7)

Security releases

n8n → 1.123.76 (npm) n8n → 2.38.2 (npm) n8n → 2.37.7 (npm)

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.

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Remediation advice

The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 1.123.76, 2.37.7, and 2.38.2. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-86081? CVE-2026-86081 is a high-severity inefficient regular expression (ReDoS) vulnerability in n8n (npm), affecting versions < 1.123.76. It is fixed in 1.123.76, 2.38.2, 2.37.7. A regular expression with worst-case exponential or polynomial matching time is applied to untrusted input, causing excessive CPU use.
Which versions of n8n are affected by CVE-2026-86081? n8n (npm) versions < 1.123.76 is affected.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-86081? Yes. CVE-2026-86081 is fixed in 1.123.76, 2.38.2, 2.37.7. Upgrade to this version or later.
Is CVE-2026-86081 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-86081 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-2026-86081 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-2026-86081?
- Upgrade n8n to 1.123.76 or later
- Upgrade n8n to 2.38.2 or later
- Upgrade n8n to 2.37.7 or later