Apache Airflow's EmailOperator and the underlying `airflow.utils.email` helpers established SMTP STARTTLS connections without verifying the remote certificate when the deployment used `[email] smtp_starttls=True` without `[email] smtp_ssl`. An attacker positioned between the worker and the configured SMTP server (network MITM — typical hostile-network attack-surface for environments where the SMTP relay sits outside the worker's trust boundary) could present a self-signed certificate, have the worker complete the STARTTLS handshake silently, and capture the SMTP AUTH credentials and message contents the worker forwarded. This CVE covers the **core apache-airflow side** of the same root cause already covered for the SMTP provider by `CVE-2026-41016` (published 2026-04-27, covering `apache-airflow-providers-smtp`). Users who already applied the SMTP-provider fix from CVE-2026-41016 should additionally upgrade `apache-airflow` to 3.2.2 or later to cover the core-side path through `airflow.utils.email`. Affects deployments configured with `smtp_starttls=True` and `smtp_ssl=False` where the SMTP relay is reachable across a less-trusted network segment than the worker. Users are advised to upgrade to `apache-airflow` 3.2.2 or later.
History

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 02:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:apache:airflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N'}


Mon, 01 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Apache
Apache airflow
Vendors & Products Apache
Apache airflow

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 09:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Apache Airflow's EmailOperator and the underlying `airflow.utils.email` helpers established SMTP STARTTLS connections without verifying the remote certificate when the deployment used `[email] smtp_starttls=True` without `[email] smtp_ssl`. An attacker positioned between the worker and the configured SMTP server (network MITM — typical hostile-network attack-surface for environments where the SMTP relay sits outside the worker's trust boundary) could present a self-signed certificate, have the worker complete the STARTTLS handshake silently, and capture the SMTP AUTH credentials and message contents the worker forwarded. This CVE covers the **core apache-airflow side** of the same root cause already covered for the SMTP provider by `CVE-2026-41016` (published 2026-04-27, covering `apache-airflow-providers-smtp`). Users who already applied the SMTP-provider fix from CVE-2026-41016 should additionally upgrade `apache-airflow` to 3.2.2 or later to cover the core-side path through `airflow.utils.email`. Affects deployments configured with `smtp_starttls=True` and `smtp_ssl=False` where the SMTP relay is reachable across a less-trusted network segment than the worker. Users are advised to upgrade to `apache-airflow` 3.2.2 or later.
Title Apache Airflow: No certificate validation on SMTP STARTTLS connections
Weaknesses CWE-295
References

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: apache

Published: 2026-06-01T07:53:13.259Z

Updated: 2026-06-02T16:42:48.781Z

Reserved: 2026-05-28T16:39:15.393Z

Link: CVE-2026-49267

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-06-02T16:22:02.332Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2026-06-01T09:16:20.543

Modified: 2026-06-03T02:06:28.127

Link: CVE-2026-49267

cve-icon Redhat

No data.