# CVE-2026-84474: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform credential exposure and RCE

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-84474-a-flaw-was-found-in-red-hat-ansible-automation-platform-s  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-09-23. Updated: 2026-09-26  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-84474 · Severity: critical · CVSS 9.9 · Published 2026-09-23

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform's automation-controller exposes provisioning secrets to read-only users and trusts unverified client headers when deployed behind its gateway. An attacker with minimal permissions or no authentication can obtain the secret, spoof the request origin, and execute arbitrary jobs with admin credentials on managed hosts, leading to complete system compromise and malware deployment across the infrastructure.

Technologies: [Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/ansible-automation-platform-2). Vendors: [Red Hat](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/red-hat).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-84474 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-84474 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-84474?** Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.9, published 23 September 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-84474?** No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

**How is CVE-2026-84474 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a hosted service.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-84474?** Check whether you run Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

The vulnerability involves two chained flaws: (1) insufficient access control on the provisioning-callback secret (host_config_key) exposed in job template APIs and activity streams to read-level users, and (2) improper trust of the X-Forwarded-For header for client identification when deployed behind AAP gateway with empty proxy allow-list. An attacker can read the secret via API, spoof the source IP via header manipulation, and invoke the provisioning callback endpoint to execute arbitrary jobs against any host in the template's inventory using the template's credentials.

## Affected products

- Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

## Timeline

- 2026-09-23: disclosed

## References

- [https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/](https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/)
- [https://catalog.redhat.com/software/containers/](https://catalog.redhat.com/software/containers/)

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