Vulnerability Database

327,921

Total vulnerabilities in the database

n8n: Execute Command Node Allows Authenticated Users to Run Arbitrary Commands on Host

Impact

The Execute Command node in n8n allows execution of arbitrary commands on the host system where n8n runs. While this functionality is intended for advanced automation and can be useful in certain workflows, it poses a security risk if all users with access to the n8n instance are not fully trusted.

An attacker—either a malicious user or someone who has compromised a legitimate user account—could exploit this node to run arbitrary commands on the host machine, potentially leading to data exfiltration, service disruption, or full system compromise.

This vulnerability affects all n8n deployments where:

  • The Execute Command node is enabled, and
  • Not all user accounts are strictly controlled and trusted.

n8n.cloud is not impacted.

Patches

No code changes have been made to alter the behavior of the Execute Command node. The recommended mitigation is to disable the node by default in environments where it is not explicitly required.

Future n8n versions may change the default availability of this node.

Workarounds

Administrators can disable the Execute Command node by setting the following environment variable before starting n8n:

export NODES_EXCLUDE: "[\"n8n-nodes-base.executeCommand\"]"

References

n8n docs: Execute Command n8n docs: Blocking nodes

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Unknown
  • Score:
  • AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWEs:

OWASP TOP 10:

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.