# CVE-2026-84502: Command injection in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8

> Attackers can execute arbitrary commands on control-plane pods by injecting arguments into git commands via project URLs, enabling cross-tenant compromise.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 23 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 24 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vpmq-jxf9-c55v

## What is CVE-2026-84502?

CVE-2026-84502 is a critical command injection vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8, published on 23 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform's automation-
controller. The Project scm_url field is not validated against values that
begin with a dash and is stored and passed verbatim to the git SCM module.
Because the module runs git ls-remote with the URL as a positional argument and
without a "--" separator, a git project URL such as "--upload-pack=<command>:x"
is interpreted by git as the --upload-pack option and executed via a shell. A
user with permission to create or modify a project in a single organization can
thereby execute arbitrary commands on the control-plane task pod, with output
reflected through the project update stdout endpoint, leading to cross-tenant
compromise and in-cluster lateral movement

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-84502?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-84502?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-84502 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-84502 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-84502 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-84502 is a critical command injection vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8, published on 23 Sep 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-2026-84502 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 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-2026-84502/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-84502/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-84502
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-84502
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-84502

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-84502/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.