Security Magazine logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Security Magazine logo
  • NEWS
    • Security Newswire
    • Technologies & Solutions
  • MANAGEMENT
    • Leadership Management
    • Enterprise Services
    • Security Education & Training
    • Logical Security
    • Security & Business Resilience
    • Profiles in Excellence
  • PHYSICAL
    • Access Management
    • Fire & Life Safety
    • Identity Management
    • Physical Security
    • Video Surveillance
    • Case Studies (Physical)
  • CYBER
    • Cybersecurity News
    • More
  • BLOG
  • COLUMNS
    • Cyber Tactics
    • Leadership & Management
    • Security Talk
    • Career Intelligence
    • Leader to Leader
    • Cybersecurity Education & Training
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Annual Guarding Report
    • Most Influential People in Security
    • The Security Benchmark Report
    • The Security Leadership Issue
    • Top Guard and Security Officer Companies
    • Top Cybersecurity Leaders
    • Women in Security
  • SECTORS
    • Arenas / Stadiums / Leagues / Entertainment
    • Banking/Finance/Insurance
    • Construction, Real Estate, Property Management
    • Education: K-12
    • Education: University
    • Government: Federal, State and Local
    • Hospitality & Casinos
    • Hospitals & Medical Centers
    • Infrastructure:Electric,Gas & Water
    • Ports: Sea, Land, & Air
    • Retail/Restaurants/Convenience
    • Transportation/Logistics/Supply Chain/Distribution/ Warehousing
  • EVENTS
    • Industry Events
    • Webinars
    • Solutions by Sector
    • Security 500 Conference
  • MEDIA
    • Videos
      • Cybersecurity & Geopolitical Discussion
      • Ask Me Anything (AMA) Series
    • Podcasts
    • Polls
    • Photo Galleries
  • MORE
    • Call for Entries
    • Classifieds & Job Listings
    • Continuing Education
    • Newsletter
    • Sponsor Insights
    • Store
    • White Papers
  • EMAG
    • eMagazine
    • This Month's Content
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
CybersecuritySecurity NewswireCybersecurity News

Misconfigured airflows leak thousands of credentials from popular services

cyber-security-freepik
October 6, 2021

While researching a misconfiguration in the popular workflow platform Apache Airflow, Intezer discovered several unprotected instances. These unsecured instances expose companies’ sensitive information across the media, finance, manufacturing, information technology (IT), biotech, e-commerce, health, energy, cybersecurity, and transportation industries. In the vulnerable Airflows, Intezer observed exposed credentials for popular platforms and services such as Slack, PayPal, AWS and more.


During the research process, Intezer also found:

  • Many misconfigured Airflow instances have exposed the credentials of popular services, including cloud hosting providers, payment processing, and social media platforms.
  • Exposed secrets such as user credentials can cause data leakage or provide attackers with the ability to spread further in the system.
  • Customer data exposed as a result of a data leak can lead to a violation of data protection laws and the possibility of legal action.


Researchers say that malicious code execution and malware can also be launched on the exposed production environments and even on Apache Airflow itself.


Intezer has notified the identified entities to fix their misconfigured Airflow instances as part of the responsible disclosure policy.


Jake Williams, Co-Founder and CTO at BreachQuest, an Augusta, Georgia-based leader in incident response, says, “This leak is extremely significant. Unlike more traditional credential leaks that impact individual user accounts, these credential leaks impact entire application framework instances. Threat actors might use leaked credentials to compromise entire databases containing sensitive user content. In some cases, threat actors might be able to use these credentials to compromise entire application containers and/or run their own containers using a victim’s billing information. In short, while user information wasn’t directly compromised through these leaks, they open the door to compromises of user data in massive quantities.”


Misconfigured cloud services and apps are a massive security risk to any organization, explains Hank Schless, Senior Manager, Security Solutions at Lookout, a San Francisco, Calif.-based endpoint-to-cloud security company. 


“These days, a simple misconfiguration could be the backstage pass that an attacker needs to access the entire infrastructure. Attackers are constantly crawling the internet to find misconfigured or unsecured services that they can easily access. One misconfigured service could give an attacker all they need to move laterally throughout the entire infrastructure - especially in large complex infrastructures where the attacker can move quietly without setting off any alarm bells,” Schless says. “This particular incident is concerning because of the number and variety of cloud services that Airflow supports. As one of the most popular open-source solutions in the world, the effects of the incident are far-reaching.”


“Managing the security posture of your cloud and SaaS apps should be a key aspect of any organization’s overall security strategy. Cloud access security broker (CASB) solutions help solve this issue by keeping an eye on the configurations of any cloud-based SaaS or IaaS app,” Schless adds. “These solutions also help identify anomalous activity that could be indicative of a compromised account or device through user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), and data loss prevention (DLP) capabilities to keep your corporate data safe.”

KEYWORDS: cyber security data privacy malware risk management

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
To unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Security's Top Cybersecurity Leaders 2024

    Security's Top Cybersecurity Leaders 2024

    Security magazine's Top Cybersecurity Leaders 2024 award...
    Security Leadership and Management
    By: Security Staff
  • cyber brain

    The intersection of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is a valuable cybersecurity...
    Security Enterprise Services
    By: Pam Nigro
  • artificial intelligence AI graphic

    Assessing the pros and cons of AI for cybersecurity

    Artificial intelligence (AI) has significant implications...
    Cybersecurity Education & Training
    By: Charles Denyer
Subscribe For Free!
  • Security eNewsletter & Other eNews Alerts
  • eMagazine Subscriptions
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Online Registration
  • Mobile App
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Security audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Security or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Crisis Response Team
    Sponsored byEverbridge

    Automate or Fall Behind – Crisis Response at the Speed of Risk

  • Perimeter security
    Sponsored byAMAROK

    Why Property Security is the New Competitive Advantage

  • Duty of Care
    Sponsored byAMAROK

    Integrating Technology and Physical Security to Advance Duty of Care

Popular Stories

Red laptop

Cybersecurity leaders discuss Oracle’s second recent hack

Pills spilled

More than 20,000 sensitive medical records exposed

Coding on screen

Research reveals mass scanning and exploitation campaigns

Laptop in darkness

Verizon 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report shows rise in cyberattacks

Computer with binary code hovering nearby

Cyberattacks Targeting US Increased by 136%

2025 Security Benchmark banner

Events

May 22, 2025

Proactive Crisis Communication

Crisis doesn't wait for the right time - it strikes when least expected. Is your team prepared to communicate clearly and effectively when it matters most?

November 17, 2025

SECURITY 500 Conference

This event is designed to provide security executives, government officials and leaders of industry with vital information on how to elevate their programs while allowing attendees to share their strategies and solutions with other security industry executives.

View All Submit An Event

Products

Security Culture: A How-to Guide for Improving Security Culture and Dealing with People Risk in Your Organisation

Security Culture: A How-to Guide for Improving Security Culture and Dealing with People Risk in Your Organisation

See More Products

Related Articles

  • phone scam against retailers in canada

    British Columbian retail outlets defrauded of thousands in bitcoin from regional manager imposter

    See More
  • password

    Number of stolen and exposed credentials has risen 300% from 2018

    See More
  • infrastructure-security-freepik

    Why cybersecurity infrastructure must be prioritized in light of the IRS leak

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • databasehacker

    The Database Hacker's Handboo

See More Products

Events

View AllSubmit An Event
  • September 3, 2024

    From DDoS Protection to WAAP: How Layered Protection Enhances Your Cybersecurity Strategy

    ON DEMAND: By participating in the webinar, attendees will gain enhanced knowledge of cyber threats and understand the current spectrum of cyber threats facing businesses.
View AllSubmit An Event
×

Sign-up to receive top management & result-driven techniques in the industry.

Join over 20,000+ industry leaders who receive our premium content.

SIGN UP TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing