Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for…: Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision
CVE-2026-84474 is a critical-severity reliance on untrusted inputs in a security decision vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8 from Red Hat, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.9 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.8% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 57% of scored CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Check which version of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8 you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8 | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 9 | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 8 | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 9 | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 for RHEL 9 | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.7 | Not specified in the record | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (redhat.com).
Official 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.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision
The product uses a protection mechanism that relies on the existence or values of an input, but the input can be modified by an untrusted actor in a way that bypasses the protection mechanism.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. With a stateless protocol such as HTTP, use a framework that maintains the state for you. Examples include ASP.NET View State and the OWASP ESAPI Session Management feature. Be careful of language features that provide state support, since these might be provided as a convenience to the programmer and may not be considering security.
- For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
- When using PHP, configure the application so that it does not use register_globals. During implementation, develop the application so that it does not rely on this feature, but be wary of implementing a register_globals emulation that is subject to weaknesses such as CWE-95, CWE-621, and similar issues.
More Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision vulnerabilities (CWE-807)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other references
Other vulnerabilities in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8
- 9.9 Critical severity
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 9.9 Critical severity
- 9.6 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
Recent Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision vulnerabilities
- 7.3 High severity
- 7.2 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
- 8.3 High severity
- 9.6 Critical severity
- 9.0 Critical severity
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