EUVD-2026-85572
GHSA-xrjh-rfcr-rxj7
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Format string safety
|
| Impact | This is a genuine high-priority finding despite the absence of exploitation telemetry. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N, vendor score 8.7) is credible: network-reachable, low complexity, no user interaction, scope-changed, with high confidentiality AND integrity impact. The critical gating signal is PR:H - exploitation requires an authenticated administrator, since both the format-string log template and the external log-aggregator destination are administrator-controlled settings. That makes this an insider/compromised-admin or post-privilege-escalation escalation-of-impact primitive rather than a mass-exploitable perimeter bug. No EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public POC were provided, so there is no evidence of active or automated exploitation - consistent with a self-reported Red Hat vulnerability. The severity is driven by consequence, not accessibility: reading the Django SECRET_KEY (the master encryption key protecting all stored credentials) plus the database password enables offline decryption of every stored credential, session forgery, and direct DB access, i.e. full controller compromise. Net: treat as a high-impact but privilege-gated issue; prioritize patching where controller admin access is broadly delegated, but it is not a wormable/internet-scale emergency. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 23, 2026
An authenticated automation-controller administrator in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 can turn the administrator-controlled format template for API 4XX log messages into a secret-reading primitive, using Python string-format traversal to walk from the interpolated user object into Django settings and pull out the SECRET_KEY and the database password. Because the log destination (external aggregator) is also administrator-controlled, the formatted message - and therefore the secrets - can be shipped off the host, giving the administrator the master key protecting all stored credentials, the ability to forge signed user sessions, and direct database access; the assessed vector is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N (8.7) with high confidentiality and integrity impact and scope change, since secrets leave the controller's security boundary. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis and there is no CISA KEV entry, so this is a high-priority hardening issue rather than an actively exploited one: the practical risk is driven by the very high value of the assets reachable once a privileged administrator account or the log pipeline is compromised.
RemediationAI
No vendor-released patch version is confirmed in the available intelligence, so treat this as a compensating-control problem until Red Hat publishes errata; monitor the advisory at https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-84691 and the Bugzilla entry at https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2527151 for the fixed automation-controller build and apply it as soon as it is tagged. In the interim, the single most effective control is to eliminate the exfiltration channel and the injection point: revert the API 4XX log-message format to a static template that does not interpolate the user object, and either disable external log forwarding or restrict the aggregator destination to hosts inside a tightly controlled trust boundary, accepting that both steps reduce log fidelity and central log correlation. Because exploitation requires the high-privileged administrator role (CVSS PR:H), shrink that role to the smallest possible set of trusted operators, audit existing administrator accounts and their recent configuration changes, and review the 4XX log-format setting and aggregator configuration on every controller instance for anomalous or unusually long templates. Assume compromise if a suspicious template or aggregator was ever configured: rotate the Django SECRET_KEY (this invalidates every existing session and all outstanding signed tokens, forcing a platform-wide re-login), rotate the controller database service account password and any credentials that account can reach, and rotate the master credential-encryption key - noting that master-key rotation requires re-entering or re-encrypting every stored credential and is disruptive. Finally, search historical copies of forwarded logs and the aggregator's retained data for SECRET_KEY-shaped or password-shaped values and purge them, since the secrets may already persist outside the host in the log store.
Affected VersionsENISA
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Technical ContextAI · show details
The root cause is CWE-134 (Use of Externally-Controlled Format String). The automation-controller (the commercially supported downstream of the AWX project) exposes a configuration setting that defines how log records for API 4XX responses are formatted, and that template is rendered with a live user object supplied as the format argument. Python's format-string interpolation permits attribute and item traversal on the substitution arguments, so a template such as one referencing attributes of the user object can be chained through object internals into module and application globals, thereby reaching Django's settings dictionary. The two concrete assets disclosed are settings.SECRET_KEY and the database connection password. Django's SECRET_KEY is the keying material behind session cookies, password-reset tokens and other signed values, so its disclosure enables offline session forgery; the database password grants direct access to the controller database, bypassing the application's authorization model. The scope-change (S:C) rating in the assessed vector reflects the fact that exfiltration is completed outside the controller, through the administrator-configurable external logging aggregator, so the impact crosses a trust boundary rather than staying inside the vulnerable component. The affected CPE data, cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_ansible_automation_platform_2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* (repeated three times in the feed), identifies the platform product family without pinning a specific build, indicating the flaw is reported at the product line level rather than tied to a single tagged release in the available intelligence.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
Primary rating from Vendor (redhat).
CVSS VectorVendor: redhat
DescriptionCVE.org
A flaw was found in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform's automation- controller. The setting that formats the log message emitted for API 4XX errors is an administrator-controlled Python format-string template that is rendered with a live user object as an argument. Because Python string formatting permits attribute and item traversal on its arguments, an administrator can craft a template that walks from the user object into the application settings and reads the Django secret key and the database password. The formatted message is written to a logger that can be forwarded to an external log aggregator, whose destination is also administrator-controlled, allowing the secrets to be sent off the host. An authenticated administrator can thereby obtain the master encryption key used to protect all stored credentials and the database service password, enabling offline decryption of every stored credential, forgery of user sessions, and direct access to the controller database.
Executive ViewAI
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 contains a high-severity flaw that allows an authenticated automation-controller administrator to extract platform-level secrets, potentially exposing stored credentials, session-signing keys, and database access across the automation estate. Because this role is trusted but should not hold these secrets, a single administrator could bypass separation-of-duties controls and compromise the confidentiality and integrity of managed systems. Leadership should prioritize this as a privileged-access and credential-protection risk; no vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis.
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis; interim mitigations include restricting automation-controller administrator access to trusted personnel, replacing administrator-controlled API 4XX log format templates with static or allow-listed templates, disabling external log forwarding to administrator-controlled destinations, rotating SECRET_KEY and database credentials if compromise is suspected, monitoring for unauthorized template or destination changes, and applying the vendor patch when released.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
How this decision was reached
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SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
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