VulnerabilityPublished 23 Sep 2026

CVE-2026-84499: CWE-209

Source GCVE Database

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Authoritative record:CVE-2026-84499· High 7.7

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.7 High : patch Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 8 soon.

Data as of 8 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.7High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

Thin evidence

One scorer or none

CVSS scores by source
CNA (redhat)	CVSS 3.1	7.7

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 32% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 23 Sep 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 8 Nov 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-fmp7-4cgr-jc56

What to do

Patches and advisories

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 8automation-controller	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 9automation-controller	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 for RHEL 9automation-controller	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6ansible-automation-platform-26/controller-rhel9	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.7ansible-automation-platform-27/controller-rhel9	Affected–	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Red Hat has released an update for Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 that addresses this vulnerability. Users should apply the official patch as provided in Red Hat Advisory RHSA-2026:71113. Since a fix is available, remediation involves updating to the fixed version. No additional mitigation steps are indicated in the advisory.

Description

A vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform's automation-controller allows a user with delegated JobTemplate Admin role to recover plaintext passwords stored in survey questions. This occurs because when a schedule or workflow job template node is revalidated against a tightened survey specification, the controller decrypts the stored password and includes it in an HTTP error message. This flaw exposes sensitive credential data to lower-privileged users.

Impact

This vulnerability allows a user with delegated JobTemplate Admin privileges to obtain plaintext passwords of other users' stored survey credentials. The exposure of sensitive credential data can lead to unauthorized access or further compromise within the automation environment. The CVSS score of 7.7 (high severity) reflects the network attack vector, low attack complexity, and high confidentiality impact without integrity or availability impact.

Summary

The vulnerability (CVE-2026-84499) in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform's automation-controller involves improper handling of password-type survey questions. These passwords are intended to be write-only and encrypted, but during revalidation triggered by tightening survey length constraints, the controller decrypts the password and includes its plaintext in validation error messages returned via HTTP responses. A user with the delegated JobTemplate Admin role can exploit this by tightening survey constraints on schedules or workflow job template nodes created by higher-privileged users, thereby extracting their stored passwords in plaintext.

CWE-209Generation of Error Message Containing Sensitive Information (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A10:2025: Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions (opens in a new tab)
The product generates an error message that includes sensitive information about its environment, users, or associated data.
Implementation
Ensure that error messages only contain minimal details that are useful to the intended audience and no one else. The messages need to strike the balance between being too cryptic (which can confuse users) or being too detailed (which may reveal more than intended).
Implementation
Handle exceptions internally and do not display errors containing potentially sensitive information to a user.
Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
Use naming conventions and strong types to make it easier to spot when sensitive data is being used. When creating structures, objects, or other complex entities, separate the sensitive and non-sensitive data as much as possible.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
Logging (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
V7.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Fuzzing for application mapping (opens in a new tab)
Padding Oracle Crypto Attack (opens in a new tab)
Query System for Information (opens in a new tab)
Blind SQL Injection (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Patches and advisories

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Nov 2026, 09:59 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-209

Technical details

References

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