CVE-2026-84719: Automation-controller: automation-controller: workflowjobtemplate /copy/ deep-copy sanitizer omits instance_groups authorization (instancegroup use_role bypass to control-plane)

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.9 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-09-23 · updated 2026-09-25
Weakness: CWE-862

Description

A flaw was found in the Ansible Automation Platform automation-controller. When a WorkflowJobTemplate is copied, the deep-copy permission sanitizer validates only the inventory, unified_job_template, and credentials of each cloned node and fails to check the instance_groups (and execution_environment and labels) that were preserved from the original. A user with organization workflow-admin permission but no role on the referenced instance groups can copy a workflow, become its administrator, and launch jobs pinned to instance groups they are not authorized to use — including the control-plane instance group — bypassing the InstanceGroup use_role boundary and causing attacker-influenced automation to run in the control-plane execution context.

Affected products

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8: all versions — fixed in 0:4.5.36-1.el8ap
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 9: all versions — fixed in 0:4.5.36-1.el9ap
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 8: all versions — fixed in 0:4.6.33-1.el8ap
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 9: all versions — fixed in 0:4.6.33-1.el9ap
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6: all versions — fixed in 1789673739
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 for RHEL 9: all versions — fixed in 0:4.7.17-1.el9ap
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.7: all versions — fixed in 1789580684

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8 0:4.5.36-1.el8ap; Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 9 0:4.5.36-1.el9ap; Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 8 0:4.6.33-1.el8ap; Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 9 0:4.6.33-1.el9ap; Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 1789673739; Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 for RHEL 9 0:4.7.17-1.el9ap; Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.7 1789580684. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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