CVE-2026-44189
Description
A flaw was found in the Visual Studio Code Ansible Lightspeed extension's AnsiblePlaybookRunProvider. This command injection vulnerability allows an attacker to craft a malicious playbook filename containing special characters. When a victim runs the playbook, these characters are not properly sanitized, leading to the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running VS Code. This could result in a full system compromise, including the exfiltration of sensitive data, modification of project files, and permanent data loss.
Statement
This Important vulnerability in the Visual Studio Code Ansible Lightspeed extension allows for command injection via malicious playbook filenames. Exploitation requires user interaction to run a specially crafted playbook, leading to arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user running VS Code. This could result in significant impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of user data and the system.
Note the VS Code extension is distributed via VS Code Marketplace, not shipped in AAP RPMs or containers. The vulnerable code does not exist in any AAP-shipped artifact.
Mitigation
To mitigate this issue, users of the Visual Studio Code Ansible Lightspeed extension should avoid running Ansible playbooks from untrusted sources or those with suspicious filenames. Always verify the origin and integrity of playbook files before execution to prevent command injection. This operational control limits exposure by preventing the processing of maliciously crafted filenames.
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 Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.8 | N/A | 7.8 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | Required | N/A | Required |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality,Integrity,Availability,Other
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Alter Execution Logic; Read Application Data; Modify Application Data
An attacker could include arguments that allow unintended commands or code to be executed, allow sensitive data to be read or modified or could cause other unintended behavior.
Acknowledgements
This issue was discovered by Laura Pardo (Red Hat Inc.).
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