CVE-2026-126643

Description

A cleartext storage flaw was found in the AAP Gateway Operator. When reconciling an AutomationController, the operator reads the protected resource-server Secret (Secret/-resource-server, key controller_resource_server_secret) and copies its plaintext value into the generated AutomationController custom resource under spec.extra_settings (RESOURCE_SERVER.SECRET_KEY). Although the operator uses no_log to keep the value out of its own logs, serializing it into the custom resource exposes it to any principal able to read the AutomationController CR without permission to read the backing Kubernetes Secret, breaking the expected OpenShift RBAC separation between the two resources. The value may also propagate into Kubernetes API/etcd storage, GitOps and Argo diffs and history, rendered manifests, support bundles, and audit data. The resource-server secret is intended for trusted Gateway-to-Controller service authentication, and its disclosure may allow a user to impersonate a trusted Controller service and reach privileged service-index APIs.

Statement

This flaw affects Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform deployments that use the AAP Gateway Operator, introduced in AAP 2.5. Exploitation requires an authenticated OpenShift principal with permission to read the AutomationController custom resource but without permission to read the backing Kubernetes Secret, which is a separable RBAC grant. The demonstrated impact is disclosure of the inter-service resource-server credential (confidentiality only). The potential for onward escalation into Ansible Automation Platform RBAC depends on the service authorization policy and has not been demonstrated. Based on the demonstrated confidentiality impact, Red Hat rates this flaw as Moderate.

Mitigation

Restrict OpenShift RBAC so that permission to read AutomationController custom resources is limited to principals already trusted to read the corresponding Kubernetes Secrets. Rotate the resource-server secret if untrusted principals may have been able to read the custom resource.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score6.5N/AN/A
Attack VectorNetworkN/AN/A
Attack ComplexityLowN/AN/A
Privileges RequiredLowN/AN/A
User InteractionNoneN/AN/A
ScopeUnchangedN/AN/A
ConfidentialityHighN/AN/A
Integrity ImpactNoneN/AN/A
Availability ImpactNoneN/AN/A

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

CWE-312

Confidentiality

Technical Impact: Read Application Data

An attacker with access to the system could read sensitive information stored in cleartext (i.e., unencrypted). Even if the information is encoded in a way that is not human-readable, certain techniques could determine which encoding is being used, then decode the information.

Acknowledgements

This issue was discovered by Elijah DeLee (Red Hat Inc.).

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