A newly discovered vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-30473, affects the Apache Airflow Common SQL Provider. This vulnerability allows an authenticated UI user to escalate their privileges and execute arbitrary SQL commands. This is due to improper neutralization of special elements used in an SQL command, which can be exploited by attackers with potentially dangerous consequences.

Affected Versions

This issue affects Apache Airflow Common SQL Provider versions before 1.24.1.

Background

Apache Airflow is an open-source platform that is widely used for programmatically authoring, scheduling, and monitoring workflows. The platform supports a Common SQL Provider that allows interfacing with various SQL data sources. This vulnerability specifically exists due to improper neutralization of special elements when users specify a partition clause in the SQLTableCheckOperator as a parameter.

Exploit Details

The vulnerability exists in the partition_clause parameter of the SQLTableCheckOperator in Apache Airflow Common SQL Provider. When implemented using the recommended pattern, an authenticated UI user can inject arbitrary SQL commands when triggering a DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) with the partition_clause exposed. This allows the attacker to escalate their privileges and execute additional SQL commands they would not have access to under normal circumstances.

A code snippet demonstrating the vulnerability is as follows

from airflow.operators.sql_table_check_operator import SQLTableCheckOperator

partition_clause = "WHERE datecol='2015-01-01'"
check_operator = SQLTableCheckOperator(
    task_id='check_table',
    database='my_db',
    sql='SELECT COUNT(*) FROM my_table {{ params.partition_clause }}',
    params=dict(
        partition_clause=partition_clause
    ),
    check_func=lambda v, *args, **kwargs: int(v[]) == 10
)

- CVE-2025-30473 Official Entry
- Apache Airflow GitHub Pull Request
- Apache Airflow Official Documentation

Mitigation and Recommendations

Users are strongly advised to upgrade to Apache Airflow Common SQL Provider version 1.24.1 or later, which addresses and fixes this vulnerability. The upgrade process is simple and can be performed using standard package management tools or by updating the relevant dependencies in your project.

In addition to upgrading, users should apply best practices for secure coding to avoid permitting unintended and potentially harmful behavior. This includes proper input validation, output encoding, and appropriate permissions management.

Conclusion

This post has detailed the vulnerability CVE-2025-30473, which affects the Apache Airflow Common SQL Provider and allows authenticated UI users to escalate their privileges by injecting arbitrary SQL commands. To mitigate this vulnerability, users are urged to upgrade to version 1.24.1 and follow secure coding best practices moving forward.

Timeline

Published on: 04/07/2025 09:15:16 UTC
Last modified on: 04/11/2025 12:59:03 UTC