n8n Shared Workflow Credential Check Gap: Advisory GHSA-r6g9-5cpp-ppwr
What the n8n shared workflow credential check advisory says about nested and tool inline sub-workflows, who is affected, and what to do now.
Checked against the cited sources on .
What n8n announced on 30 September 2026
An n8n shared workflow credential check did not cover every case, according to advisory GHSA-r6g9-5cpp-ppwr. n8n published it on GitHub in the n8n-io/n8n repository for the n8n npm package on 30 September 2026, and it is rated High.
The advisory's overall score is 7.2 on the CVSS v4 scale, per the advisory published on 30 September 2026. That is a severity rating assigned by the publisher. It does not measure real-world exploitation.
A note on terms: this article is about the n8n platform and its security advisory. The n8n Balloon Challenges learning website is a separate thing, and it is not affected by or involved in this advisory.
n8n shared workflow credential check: what changed
On n8n 1.x, the n8n shared workflow credential check runs at save time and is meant to stop people with edit access to a shared workflow from adding credentials they may not use. The advisory says that check looked at only one node type, one level deep. It does not name that node type.
Two other nodes also accept an inline workflow, and inline workflows can nest. That makes n8n nested sub-workflow credentials the uncovered area. The advisory says an editor could save a workflow whose embedded nodes reference credentials the editor cannot use. At execution, those nodes run with the owner's credential values.
The advisory describes this impact in general terms. It lists no CVE ID or CWE. The n8n tool inline sub-workflow case and nesting are the two paths its title names.
Who is affected: n8n 1.x below 1.123.83
The advisory lists affected versions as n8n below 1.123.83, and the fix is in 1.123.83 or later. It tells users to upgrade. It words the scope as the 1.x line; the final section covers what it leaves unsaid.
Workflow sharing matters here, and so does n8n credential sharing in sub-workflows. The n8n documentation says workflow sharing is available on n8n Cloud on all plans and on self-hosted Business and Enterprise. The docs also say editors can use all credentials in a shared workflow, even ones not explicitly shared with them. In our own reading, that sits awkwardly beside the advisory's premise, and the docs do not explain the difference. We treat it as background only, so treat the advisory as the authority on this issue.
In our view, teams that rely on shared workflows should not wait for clarity on that point. We would rather upgrade than guess who can reach whose credentials.
Sources: Shared-Workflow Credential Check Misses Nested and Tool Inline Sub-Workflows · Advisory · n8n-io/n8n · GitHub, Share with others | Build | n8n Docs
What to do now
The advisory directs users to upgrade to 1.123.83 or later. Everything below is our own editorial suggestion, not the announcement's recommendation.
We suggest you confirm your self-hosted n8n version first. If it is 1.x below 1.123.83, plan the upgrade to 1.123.83 or later, the version with the fixed n8n shared workflow credential check. The advisory also lists temporary mitigations for administrators who cannot upgrade immediately, so read them on the advisory page.
If you run 2.x, check the 2.x advisories and patch levels separately. After upgrading, we suggest reviewing shared workflows that use an n8n tool inline sub-workflow, which the advisory's title names.
What the announcement does not state
The advisory does not state whether 2.x releases are affected, whether n8n Cloud or other hosted plans are affected, or whether the flaw was exploited. It also gives no detection guidance and no credential-rotation advice for this advisory.
We would be cautious: if you cannot rule out that someone with edit access misused the gap, treat credential rotation as a decision for your own security review, since nothing here tells you either way.
