CVE-2026-94416 Aap-gateway: aap-gateway: authorization bypass via workload identity token forgery
An administrator can forge workload identity tokens to bypass authorization and disclose secrets from downstream services like Vault.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-94416?
CVE-2026-94416 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2, published on 24 Sep 2026. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Official description
An authorization bypass was found in the Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) gateway. The gateway API allows an authenticated administrator to create a new service key for the Controller service cluster. Because service-key creation is not restricted to the installer-provisioned provisioning path, an administrator-issued key is cryptographically indistinguishable from a legitimate one and can be used to forge a service-authentication token that impersonates the Controller service. Combined with the gateway OIDC workload-identity endpoint (enabled via FEATURE_OIDC_WORKLOAD_IDENTITY_ENABLED), the attacker can drive the gateway to sign Workload Identity Tokens (WITs) for arbitrary Controller workloads. A downstream resource server such as HashiCorp Vault that trusts the gateway OIDC key will accept the forged WIT and return the AAP credentials bound to that workload, disclosing secrets beyond the attacker's authorization boundary.
Weakness: CWE-290
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-94416?
How do I fix CVE-2026-94416?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-94416 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.
Is CVE-2026-94416 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-94416 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-ch6h-xwwm-655w.