CVE-2026-86079: n8n: Path Injection in Elasticsearch and ElasticSecurity Nodes via Unencoded Identifiers

The two nodes build REST endpoints by interpolating identifiers, such as an index name or document id, directly into the path. If that value contains / or .. segments, the request goes somewhere other than the endpoint the workflow author intended. An operation meant for one document can reach a different index, or a cluster administration endpoint.

The request is sent with the stored Elasticsearch credential, so it carries whatever rights that credential has. The attacker does not need the credential itself. They need to control an identifier field, and the CVSS vector lists low privileges. A common case is a workflow that passes a webhook or form value into the document id field.

The weakness is path traversal (CWE-22). The CVSS vector scores the damage on the downstream Elasticsearch system, not on n8n itself. The practical result is reading, changing or deleting data on indices the workflow never meant to touch, plus access to admin APIs if the credential allows it.

The patch encodes each identifier as a single URL path segment and rejects values that normalise away.

Affected: n8n below 1.123.76, 2.0.0 up to but not including 2.37.7, and 2.38.0 up to but not including 2.38.2. Only workflows that use the Elasticsearch or ElasticSecurity nodes are exposed, and the risk is highest where index or document identifier fields take external input. Check the version:

npm ls n8n

For Docker installs, check the image tag or the version in the n8n UI.

Upgrade to 1.123.76, 2.37.7 or 2.38.2, or later:

npm install -g [email protected]

The advisory lists stopgaps that it says do not fully remediate the risk:

• Limit instance access to fully trusted users.
• Add n8n-nodes-base.elasticsearch and n8n-nodes-base.elasticSecurity to the NODES_EXCLUDE environment variable if you do not need them.
• Audit workflows that use these nodes and make sure the index and document identifier fields take no externally controlled input.

Review Elasticsearch audit or access logs for requests made by the n8n credential to paths that do not match your workflows, such as _cluster, _security or other index names, or paths with .. or encoded separators. Inspect n8n workflows and execution data for identifier inputs containing / or ... The advisory gives no other indicators.

Impact

The Elasticsearch and ElasticSecurity nodes built REST endpoints by interpolating user-provided identifiers straight into the request path. A value containing path separators or dot segments changed which endpoint the request actually reached, so an operation intended for one document could hit another index or a cluster administration endpoint instead, under the stored Elasticsearch credential. The patch encodes each identifier as a single URL path segment and rejects values that normalise away.

Patches

The issue has been fixed in n8n versions 1.123.76, 2.37.7, and 2.38.2. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate the vulnerability.

Workarounds

If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations:

• Restrict n8n instance access to fully trusted users only.
• Disable the affected nodes by adding n8n-nodes-base.elasticsearch and n8n-nodes-base.elasticSecurity to the NODES_EXCLUDE environment variable if they are not required.
• Audit existing workflows that use these nodes and ensure that index and document identifier fields do not accept externally-controlled input.

These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.