galaxy_ng CVE-2026-79717

Exploitation requires an authenticated AAP user account with namespace management permissions - this is not a default role granted to all users, but is a functional role in organizations that delegate Galaxy content curation. The vulnerability is triggered specifically through the namespace avatar URL update functionality; no other attack surface within galaxy_ng is implicated. The SSRF impact is gated by the network reachability of the AAP background worker nodes: in air-gapped or strictly egress-filtered deployments, internal probing is limited to locally reachable services. The cloud metadata DoS/credential-theft risk is contingent on the deployment being hosted on a cloud provider with a metadata endpoint (AWS, GCP, Azure) and that endpoint being reachable from the worker. The DoS component (worker starvation) requires no special conditions beyond the namespace management role and benefits from repeated submissions. Authentication requirements are confirmed: CVSS PR:L establishes that a low-privileged authenticated user (with the namespace management role specifically) is required; unauthenticated exploitation is not possible.

The NVD CVSS 3.1 score of 6.4 (Medium) with vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:L accurately reflects the constrained but real risk profile. The scope-change (S:C) is the most significant signal - exploitation pivots from the application layer into internal network infrastructure, which is disproportionately dangerous in cloud-hosted or Kubernetes-deployed AAP instances where the metadata endpoint (169.254.169.254 or IMDSv2) could expose credentials. However, PR:L is a meaningful constraint: the attacker must be an authenticated platform user with namespace management rights, which is not an anonymous or low-bar condition in enterprise deployments. No EPSS data was provided in source intelligence; without it, exploitation probability cannot be quantified. No POC is publicly known and CISA KEV does not list this CVE, so exploitation remains theoretical at time of analysis. The DoS vector (worker starvation) is a secondary but operationally relevant risk for organizations with high Galaxy traffic or limited worker processes. The primary real-world risk is cloud metadata credential theft in misconfigured deployments, not broad arbitrary code execution.

An attacker with a legitimate AAP account and namespace management permissions navigates to the namespace settings page and sets the avatar URL to http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/ (or a similar cloud metadata path). The background worker fetches the URL from the server's network context, returning IAM credential material or internal service banners in a response the attacker can observe. Separately, the attacker submits multiple avatar URLs pointing to a slow-responding internal host with no timeout, pinning worker threads and degrading Galaxy background processing for all platform users. No public exploit code is required; the attack is achievable with standard HTTP tooling and a valid AAP session.