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N8nApplication

CVE-2026-59253

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.28.0 or later.
See remediation →
56/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click 6 weeks old

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
n8n before 2.28.0 contains an improper authorization vulnerability allowing authenticated users to assign workflows to folders in other projects. Attackers can bypass project and folder authorization boundaries by supplying crafted request payloads during workflow creation, causing logical integrity violations in target project folder structures.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

n8n before version 2.28.0 has an improper authorization vulnerability in the workflow creation endpoint. Authenticated users can bypass project and folder authorization boundaries by supplying crafted request payloads that assign workflows to folders in other projects they don't have access to, causing logical integrity violations in target project folder structures.

MitigationUpgrade to n8n version 2.28.0 or later which implements proper authorization checks to validate that users can only assign workflows to folders within their authorized projects.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
N8nApplication
Affected:< 2.28.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed n8n version
    Check the n8n version by visiting /rest/version endpoint or running `docker images` if containerized, or checking package.json in the installation directory
    Affected if Version is below 2.28.0 (e.g., 2.27.x, 2.26.x, etc.)
  2. Verify multi-project feature is active
    Log into n8n as an authenticated user and navigate to the Projects section in the UI, or query the /rest/projects API endpoint to list accessible projects
    Affected if More than one project exists in the system and users have access to some but not all projects
  3. Inspect workflow creation API behavior
    Use a low-privileged authenticated account to examine the POST /rest/workflows request payload schema - look for fields that accept folder_id or project_id parameters
    Affected if The workflow creation endpoint accepts a folder_id or project_id parameter that can be modified by the client
  4. Check for cross-project workflow assignments in audit logs
    Query n8n audit logs (if enabled) for workflow creation events where the assigned folder belongs to a different project than the user's current project context
    Affected if Audit logs show workflows created with folder assignments outside the user's authorized project scope

You are affected if your n8n installation version is below 2.28.0 and you have multiple projects with folder-based access controls configured.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.28.0 or later
Fixed in 2.28.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to n8n version 2.28.0 or later which implements proper authorization checks to validate that users can only assign workflows to folders within their authorized projects.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

n8n version 2.28.0 or later

  1. Backup your n8n data and database before starting the upgrade
  2. Stop the n8n service to prevent data corruption during upgrade
  3. If using npm: run 'npm install -g n8n@latest' or 'npm install -g [email protected]' to install the fixed version
  4. If using Docker: update your image tag to 'n8nio/n8n:2.28.0' or 'latest' in your docker-compose.yml or container run command, then recreate the container
  5. If using a managed deployment, consult your provider's documentation for upgrading n8n
  6. Start n8n and verify the service runs without errors
  7. Log in and verify that the authorization controls are working - test that users cannot assign workflows to folders outside their project scope
  8. Review the n8n 2.28.0 release notes for any configuration or migration requirements
Caveat Review n8n 2.28.0 release notes for any breaking changes; standard practice recommends testing upgrades in a staging environment before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in N8n Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-59253 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data