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Vulnerability · Published Sep 23, 2026 · Assigned by redhat

CVE-2026-84691Automation-controller: automation-controller-container: automation-controller: format string injection in the api 4xx error log setting discloses django secret_key and database credentials to an administrator

High 8.7

In plain English

A high-severity security flaw in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 8 from Red Hat. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 10% of all known vulnerabilities).

Severity (CVSS 3.1)8.7High
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 90.0% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

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.

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Red Hat Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 8 see references
Red Hat Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 8 see references
Red Hat Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 9 see references
Red Hat Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 9 see references
Red Hat Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 for RHEL 9 see references
Red Hat Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 for RHEL 9 see references
Red Hat Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 see references
Red Hat Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.7 see references

Weakness: CWE-134 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

References