CVE-2025-49521 is a vulnerability identified in the Event-Driven Ansible (EDA) component of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8. The flaw arises because user-supplied Git branch or refspec values are processed as Jinja2 templates without adequate sanitization or validation. Jinja2 is a powerful templating engine that can evaluate expressions, and here it is improperly used to render user input, leading to code injection. An authenticated attacker can craft malicious input that, when evaluated, executes arbitrary commands or accesses sensitive files on the EDA worker node. In environments where Ansible Automation Platform is deployed on OpenShift, this vulnerability can be leveraged to steal service account tokens, potentially allowing attackers to escalate privileges and move laterally within the cluster. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8, indicating high severity due to network attack vector, low attack complexity, required privileges, no user interaction, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Although no public exploits are reported yet, the nature of the flaw and the widespread use of Ansible Automation in enterprise automation workflows make it a critical risk. The vulnerability affects the core automation infrastructure, which is often trusted with sensitive operational tasks, increasing the potential damage from exploitation.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the security of automation workflows and infrastructure management. Exploitation can lead to unauthorized command execution, data exfiltration, and disruption of automated processes, potentially causing operational downtime. In OpenShift deployments, theft of service account tokens can enable attackers to gain broader access to container orchestration environments, leading to further compromise of cloud-native applications and services. Given the reliance on Ansible Automation Platform in sectors such as finance, manufacturing, and government across Europe, successful exploitation could result in data breaches, intellectual property theft, and critical service interruptions. The high severity score reflects the broad impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, making this a priority vulnerability for organizations using Red Hat automation tools.

Organizations should immediately verify if they are running Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 on RHEL 8, particularly with the EDA component enabled. Applying vendor-provided patches or updates as soon as they become available is critical. Until patches are deployed, restrict access to the Ansible Automation Platform to trusted users only and enforce strict authentication and authorization controls. Implement input validation and sanitization for any user-supplied Git branch or refspec values to prevent malicious template evaluation. Monitor logs for unusual activity related to Git operations or template rendering. In OpenShift environments, review and limit service account permissions to minimize potential damage from token theft. Additionally, consider isolating the EDA worker nodes and applying network segmentation to reduce the attack surface. Regularly audit automation workflows and credentials to detect and respond to suspicious behavior promptly.