# CVE-2026-6266: Aap-controller: aap-gateway: account hijacking and unauthorized access via unverified email linking

> Attackers can hijack accounts or gain admin access by exploiting unverified email linking in the AAP gateway.

- **Severity:** High 8.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 4 May 2026
- **Updated:** 27 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6hqg-wj7g-983r

## What is CVE-2026-6266?

CVE-2026-6266 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 8, published on 4 May 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in the AAP gateway. The user auto-link strategy, introduced in AAP 2.6, automatically links an external Identity Provider (IDP) identity to an existing AAP user account based on email matching without verifying email ownership. This allows a remote attacker to potentially hijack a victim's account or gain unauthorized access to other accounts, including administrative accounts, by manipulating the IDP-provided email.

Weakness: CWE-305 (Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-6266?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-6266?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-6266 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-6266 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-6266 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-6266 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 8, published on 4 May 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-2026-6266 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 8. 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-2026-6266/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-6266/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-6266
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-6266
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-6266

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-6266/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.