# CVE-2026-44189: Command injection in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2

> Attackers can execute arbitrary code via malicious playbook filenames in the VS Code Ansible Lightspeed extension, compromising user systems.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 22 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-qqc6-9wv9-jxfp

## What is CVE-2026-44189?

CVE-2026-44189 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2, published on 22 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A flaw was found in the Visual Studio Code Ansible Lightspeed extension's AnsiblePlaybookRunProvider. This command injection vulnerability allows an attacker to craft a malicious playbook filename containing special characters. When a victim runs the playbook, these characters are not properly sanitized, leading to the execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running VS Code. This could result in a full system compromise, including the exfiltration of sensitive data, modification of project files, and permanent data loss.

Weakness: CWE-88 (Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-44189?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-44189?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-44189 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-44189 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-44189 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-44189 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-44189 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2, published on 22 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-44189 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-2026-44189/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44189/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-44189
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44189
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-44189

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44189/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.