CVE-2026-79717
Description
A server-side request forgery (SSRF) vulnerability was found in galaxy_ng, the Ansible Galaxy server plugin for Pulp. An authenticated user with namespace management permissions can set a namespace avatar URL to an arbitrary address, including internal networks, loopback, or cloud instance metadata endpoints. A background worker fetches that URL without checking the destination, which lets the attacker probe internal services and enumerate reachable IP addresses. The HTTP client is also configured without an overall timeout, so a slow or non-responsive target can pin workers and cause a denial of service.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Moderate because an authenticated user with namespace-change permission can cause a Pulp worker to request arbitrary internal addresses. The SSRF is blind: response bodies are discarded unless they look like an image, so cloud-metadata secrets are not returned to the attacker. The attacker can still enumerate reachable internal IP addresses and ports from the worker's network, and can pin workers with slow endpoints. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform ships galaxy_ng as Private Automation Hub (python-galaxy-ng and hub container images in AAP 2.4 through 2.7). RHEL and Fedora do not ship this component as a base OS package.
Mitigation
There is no complete mitigation for this vulnerability. The following measures can reduce risk:
1. Restrict galaxy.change_namespace and galaxy.add_namespace to trusted administrators only, so fewer users can trigger avatar downloads.
2. In cloud deployments, protect instance metadata with hop-limited controls such as AWS IMDSv2 with HttpPutResponseHopLimit=1.
3. Apply egress filtering on Pulp worker nodes so they cannot reach RFC1918, loopback, link-local, or cloud metadata addresses that are not required for normal Galaxy operation.
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 | 6.4 | N/A | 6.4 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Changed | N/A | Changed |
| Confidentiality | Low | N/A | Low |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | Low | N/A | Low |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:L
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:L
Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation
Scope Changed because the worker is used as a proxy to enumerate and probe other hosts (internal IPs, loopback, link-local, metadata) that sit outside Galaxy NG's authorization authority. Confidentiality is Low: the SSRF is blind (image filter) so the attacker gets a reachability oracle, not response bodies. Availability is Low: unbounded timeouts can pin Pulp workers.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Application Data
Integrity
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
Access Control
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
By providing URLs to unexpected hosts or ports, attackers can make it appear that the server is sending the request, possibly bypassing access controls such as firewalls that prevent the attackers from accessing the URLs directly. The server can be used as a proxy to conduct port scanning of hosts in internal networks, use other URLs such as that can access documents on the system (using file://), or use other protocols such as gopher:// or tftp://, which may provide greater control over the contents of requests.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Arpit Jain (independent security researcher) for reporting this issue.
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