CVE-2026-49267
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.
- No active-exploitation, high-EPSS, or public-exploit signals - routine patching cadence
ATT&CK techniques
1Techniques this CVE enables - linked via CWECAPECATT&CK. High◆ = named directly in ATT&CK or Nuclei templates.
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2Attack patterns this CVE enables - the bridge from weakness to ATT&CK technique.