CVE-2026-92982
Description
A flaw was found in Ansible Operator Plugins. A low-privileged Kubernetes user can exploit a Jinja2 template injection vulnerability by crafting malicious custom resource (CR) specification values. These values are processed by Ansible without proper sanitization, allowing embedded Jinja2 expressions to be executed within the operator pod. This can lead to arbitrary code execution and privilege escalation, granting the attacker control over the operator's service account with cluster-wide permissions.
Statement
This is an Important vulnerability where a low-privileged Kubernetes user can achieve arbitrary code execution within an operator pod. By injecting Jinja2 templates into Custom Resource (CR) spec fields, an attacker can escalate privileges to the operator service account's cluster RBAC. This occurs because the markUnsafe flag in Ansible Operator Plugins, used in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and OpenShift Container Platform, defaults to false, enabling template injection.
Mitigation
To mitigate this vulnerability, configure the Ansible Operator watch to explicitly mark custom resource (CR) spec values as unsafe. This can be achieved by setting `markUnsafe: true` in the `watches.yaml` configuration for the affected operator. This action prevents Jinja2 template injection by ensuring CR spec fields are not evaluated as templates. A restart of the operator pod may be required for the changes to take effect.
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).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 8.5 | N/A | 8.5 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | High |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Changed | N/A | Changed |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
If an attacker can influence input into a template before it is processed, then the attacker can invoke arbitrary expressions, i.e. perform injection attacks. For example, in some template languages, an attacker could inject the expression "{{7*7}}" and determine if the output returns "49" instead. The syntax varies depending on the language.
Frequently Asked Questions
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