Critical Vulnerability Discovered in n8n Automation Platform

- The vulnerability, patched in versions 1.123.17 and 2.5.2, allowed authenticated users with permissions to create or edit workflows to execute commands on the host server by using specially crafted expressions. - The root cause was identified as a sandbox escape, where the platform failed to properly sanitize and restrict user-controlled expressions, allowing them to break out of the intended safe environment. - An attacker could potentially read files, access databases, and steal credentials stored within the n8n instance by exploiting this flaw. - The 9.4 "Critical" CVSS score reflects a vulnerability that is easy to exploit remotely with low complexity once an attacker has authenticated access. - This specific vulnerability was disclosed as part of a larger set of six distinct security flaws in n8n that were made public on the same day, pointing to broader security concerns in the platform. - n8n is a German software company founded in Berlin in 2019 that provides a "fair code" licensed workflow automation platform, available as a cloud service or self-hosted. - The platform is widely used for connecting and automating tasks between hundreds of applications, making it a central hub for business processes, data pipelines, and marketing automation.