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Improper Authorization in Workflow Execution Stop Endpoint Allows Terminating Other Users’ Workflows

Moderate
csuermann published GHSA-gq57-v332-7666 Jul 3, 2025

Package

npm n8n (npm)

Affected versions

< 1.99.1

Patched versions

1.99.1

Description

Summary

An authorization vulnerability was discovered in the /rest/executions/:id/stop endpoint of n8n. An authenticated user can stop workflow executions that they do not own or that have not been shared with them, leading to potential business disruption.

Impact

This is an improper authorization vulnerability. While most API methods enforce user-scoped access to workflow execution IDs, the /stop endpoint fails to do so. An attacker can guess or enumerate execution IDs (which are sequential and partially exposed via verbose error messages) and terminate active workflows initiated by other users.

Who is impacted:

  • Environments where multiple users with varying trust levels share access to the same n8n instance.
  • All users running long-running or time-sensitive workflows (e.g., using the wait node).

An attacker with authenticated access can exploit this flaw to:

  • Disrupt other users’ workflow executions.
  • Cause denial of service for business-critical automations.

Patches

The issue was addressed in #16405. Users should upgrade to version >= 1.99.1.

Users should upgrade to this version or later to ensure proper authorization checks are enforced before stopping workflow executions.

Workarounds

To mitigate this issue without upgrading:

  • Restrict access to the /rest/executions/:id/stop endpoint via reverse proxy or API gateway.

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

CVE ID

CVE-2025-52554

Weaknesses

Missing Authorization

The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action. Learn more on MITRE.

Credits