# CVE-2026-16544: Missing authorization in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2

> Authenticated users can access real-time stdout from jobs in other organizations due to missing authorization checks in websocket event consumers.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 22 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2jx7-9fh6-5m74

## What is CVE-2026-16544?

CVE-2026-16544 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2, published on 22 Jul 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in AWX. The websocket event consumer performs RBAC authorization checks only for event groups that are mapped in the consumer_access() function (job_events, workflow_events, ad_hoc_command_events). Three event groups - inventory_update_events, project_update_events, and system_job_events — are not mapped, causing the authorization check to be skipped. Any authenticated user can subscribe to these unmapped websocket event groups for any object ID and receive real-time stdout output from jobs belonging to organizations they have no access to. This is an incomplete remediation of CVE-2020-10698.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-16544?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-16544?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-16544 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-16544 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-16544 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-16544 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-16544 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2, published on 22 Jul 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-16544 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16544/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16544/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-16544
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16544
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-16544

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16544/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.