CVE-2026-84474
Description
A flaw was found in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform's automation- controller. The provisioning-callback secret (host_config_key) is exposed to users holding only the read-level view_jobtemplate permission -- both in the job template API representation and in the activity stream -- and the provisioning callback endpoint trusts a client-supplied X-Forwarded-For header to determine the calling host when the controller is deployed behind the AAP gateway with an empty proxy allow-list. By reading the secret and spoofing X-Forwarded-For to match any host in the job template's inventory, a minimally privileged or unauthenticated remote attacker can launch the job template against arbitrary managed hosts using the job template's credentials, resulting in privilege escalation and remote code execution on managed hosts.
Statement
This flaw affects automation-controller as shipped in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5, 2.6, and 2.7 (the gateway/envoy topology that forwards X-Forwarded-For to the controller was introduced with the AAP gateway in 2.5). The host_config_key exposure (defect a) is present in the controller code independent of version; the full remote host-spoofing chain (defect b) requires the shipped gateway topology with an empty PROXY_IP_ALLOWED_LIST. [Verify AAP 2.4 for the standalone host_config_key exposure -- see affects.]
Mitigation
- Restrict who holds view_jobtemplate on job templates that have provisioning
callback enabled; disable provisioning callback (clear host_config_key) on
JTs that do not require it.
- Set PROXY_IP_ALLOWED_LIST to the AAP gateway/envoy address(es) so untrusted
client X-Forwarded-For headers are stripped before host matching.
- Rotate any host_config_key values that may have been exposed to read-only
users; review activity_stream access.
- Monitor for jobs with launch_type=callback and unexpected limit values or
created_by=None.
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 | 9.9 | N/A | 9.9 |
| 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 | 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:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality,Access Control,Availability,Other
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism; Gain Privileges or Assume Identity; Varies by Context
Attackers can bypass the security decision to access whatever is being protected. The consequences will depend on the associated functionality, but they can range from granting additional privileges to untrusted users to bypassing important security checks. Ultimately, this weakness may lead to exposure or modification of sensitive data, system crash, or execution of arbitrary code.
Acknowledgements
This issue was discovered by Chris Meyers (Red Hat).
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