CVE-2025-68668 Deep Dive: Fuga do Pyodide Sandbox n8n e risco de infraestrutura de IA

For AI security engineers and DevSecOps professionals managing automated workflows, CVE-2025-68668 represents a critical failure in the isolation layers of modern AI orchestration.

As organizations increasingly rely on n8n to glue together LLMs (Large Language Models), vector databases, and internal APIs, the integrity of the workflow execution environment becomes paramount. This vulnerability, a critical sandbox bypass in the n8n Python Code Node, demonstrates exactly why “sandboxing” in interpreted environments is notoriously difficult to secure.

The Anatomy of CVE-2025-68668

At its core, CVE-2025-68668 (CVSS 9.9) is a Protection Mechanism Failure affecting n8n versions from 1.0.0 up to 2.0.0. It specifically targets the Python Code Node implementation relying on Pyodide, a port of CPython to WebAssembly/Emscripten.

While Pyodide is designed to run Python safely within restricted environments, the implementation within the n8n backend failed to strictly enforce isolation boundaries.

The Technical Bypass Mechanism

The vulnerability allows an authenticated user (with workflow creation/modification privileges) to break out of the Pyodide environment. In a standard secure setup, the Python Code Node should restrict access to the host’s standard libraries, specifically os, subprocessoe sistema.

However, in vulnerable versions, the import mechanism allows attackers to access the underlying host system’s shell. By crafting a specific Python payload within the workflow editor, an attacker can execute arbitrary commands with the same privileges as the n8n process itself (often root in Dockerized environments).

Vulnerability Profile:

Code Analysis: Conceptualizing the Exploit

Note: The following code block is for educational and defensive analysis. Do not use this against systems you do not own.

The exploit leverages the ability to access the host’s filesystem or process handling despite the Pyodide wrapper. A typical bypass logic involves re-importing restricted modules or leveraging the js interface (if exposed) to bridge back to the Node.js host context.

Python

`# Conceptual Representation of the Sandbox Escape Logic

In a vulnerable n8n instance, the isolation fails to block specific system calls.

try: # Attempting to access the host environment variables or file system import os import subprocess

# If the sandbox were effective, this would raise a PermissionError or ImportError
# In CVE-2025-68668, this executes successfully on the host.

output = subprocess.check_output(['whoami'])
print(f"Sandbox Broken. User: {output.decode('utf-8')}")

# Attackers can then pivot to dump .env files containing OpenAI/AWS keys
# malicious_payload = subprocess.check_output(['cat', '/home/node/.n8n/config'])

except Exception as e: print(“Environment Secure or Patched.”)`

Why This Matters for AI Security Engineers

This is not just a standard web vulnerability; it is a supply chain risk for AI Agents.

1. Coleta de credenciais: n8n workflows are treasure troves of high-value secrets: OpenAI API keys, Pinecone vector DB credentials, and AWS access tokens. A successful exploit grants immediate access to these environment variables.
2. Model Poisoning: An attacker with RCE can intercept data flowing into your RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) pipelines, poisoning the context window or altering the model’s output before it reaches the end-user.
3. Movimento lateral: Since n8n often sits inside the VPC to access internal databases, a compromised node acts as an ideal pivot point for lateral movement into the internal network.

Validating the Threat with Automated Pentesting

Detecting CVE-2025-68668 presents a challenge for traditional vulnerability scanners. Standard DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing) tools often look for version headers or simple HTTP error codes. They lack the logic to authenticate, create a workflow, inject a Python snippet, and validate if the code executed on the host.

É aqui que Teste de penetração orientado por IA becomes essential.

Penligente leverages autonomous AI agents that mimic the behavior of a human security engineer. Instead of relying on static signatures, Penligent’s agents can:

• Contextualize: Understand that the target is an n8n instance.
• Authenticate: Use provided credentials to access the workflow editor.
• Synthesize Payloads: Dynamically generate Python code intended to test the sandbox boundaries safely (e.g., attempting to read a non-sensitive temporary file).
• Verificar: Analyze the execution output to confirm if the sandbox was truly bypassed, eliminating false positives common in legacy scanners.

By integrating Penligent into your CI/CD or regular security audits, you ensure that logical vulnerabilities like CVE-2025-68668 are detected before they can be exploited in production.

Remediation and Mitigation Strategies

To secure your AI automation infrastructure against CVE-2025-68668, immediate action is required.

1. Faça o upgrade imediatamente

The primary fix is to upgrade n8n to version 2.0.0 or higher. The n8n team has completely refactored the Python execution model in v2.0 to provide a secure native python runner by default.

2. Disable Python Code Nodes (Temporary)

If upgrading is not immediately feasible, you can mitigate the risk by disabling the vulnerable node type via environment variables:

Bash

# Disable Python support in the Code node export N8N_PYTHON_ENABLED=false

3. Restrict Workflow Permissions

Since this is an authenticated vulnerability, apply the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP). Ensure that only trusted engineers have “Workflow Creator” permissions. Audit your user list immediately.

Conclusão

CVE-2025-68668 serves as a stark reminder that as we abstract complexity with low-code AI tools, we introduce new layers of risk. The “black box” nature of sandboxed code execution requires rigorous, continuous validation.

For the modern security engineer, relying on patch management is necessary but insufficient. Adopting automated offensive security platforms como Penligent.ai allows organizations to test the resilience of these complex integrations continuously, ensuring that your AI agents remain servants, not potential saboteurs.

Referências

• GitHub Advisory: GHSA-62r4-hw23-cc8v (n8n Sandbox Bypass)
• NVD Detail: CVE-2025-68668
• SOCRadar Vulnerability Analysis: n8n Python Code Node