Description

IBM Langflow OSS 1.0.0 through 1.11.1 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary flows and access sensitive information due to improper authentication.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "8.2",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-28T22:16:46.990Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-28T22:16:46.990Z",
  "executiveSummary": "IBM Langflow OSS versions 1.0.0 through 1.11.1 are susceptible to an improper authentication vulnerability that poses a critical security risk.\nThe flaw stems from insufficient validation of authentication mechanisms within the application, allowing unauthorized remote actors to bypass security controls.\nAn unauthenticated attacker can execute arbitrary flows and gain unauthorized access to sensitive information stored or processed within the Langflow environment.\nThe vulnerability does not require prior user credentials or complex social engineering to exploit, making it highly accessible to external threat actors.\nSuccessful exploitation allows for complete compromise of the workflow execution capabilities, potentially leading to unauthorized data exfiltration, system manipulation, or further lateral movement within the network infrastructure.\nGiven the nature of Langflow as an orchestration tool for AI/LLM workflows, the impact is significant, as it could expose sensitive integrations, API keys, or proprietary data models managed by the platform.\nImmediate action is required to restrict access to affected instances and implement compensatory security controls until a comprehensive security update is applied.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the authentication framework of IBM Langflow OSS versions 1.0.0 through 1.11.1. The root cause is identified as improper implementation or enforcement of authentication checks when processing incoming requests to the workflow execution engine.\nSpecifically, the application fails to adequately verify the identity of the requester before allowing the execution of administrative or workflow-related tasks. This design flaw allows remote attackers to interact with the API endpoints that govern flow management and execution without presenting valid session tokens or credentials.\nIn a standard attack scenario, the threat actor sends specifically crafted HTTP requests to the vulnerable Langflow endpoints responsible for triggering flows. Because the application logic fails to perform a secondary validation of the request's origin or authorization context, the back-end service proceeds to process the payload as a legitimate command.\nThis allows the attacker to manipulate the execution flow, potentially triggering arbitrary workflows that may perform actions on behalf of the application's service account. Since Langflow often handles sensitive data and integrates with external LLM providers or databases, this access grants the attacker the ability to siphon information, read configuration files, or modify existing workflow logic to facilitate persistent unauthorized access or further malicious activity.\nThe vulnerability exhibits low barrier-to-entry as it is exploitable via standard network protocols over HTTP/HTTPS. There are no requirements for administrative privileges or pre-existing sessions, rendering the application fully exposed to any network-adjacent attacker or internet-exposed instance.\nPost-exploitation, the attacker gains the ability to interact with the underlying system as if they were a legitimate user, potentially gaining access to API keys, database credentials, or prompt engineering templates managed by the instance. The lack of robust authorization checks during flow invocation facilitates the subversion of the intended security boundaries, leading to complete loss of confidentiality and integrity of the AI-orchestration platform."
}