Critical [CVE-2026-12564] Automation-controller: automation-controller: kubernetes service account token exfiltration via hashicorp vault credential ssrf
This critical-severity Red Hat Linux advisory covers CVE-2026-12564 affecting Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.
Android app · Google Play
Monitor future Red Hat Linux CVEs from your phone.
Choose a whole vendor or a precise platform, then receive matching security advisories by phone notification, email, or both. Coverage follows 32 official vendor sources and 160+ reviewed platform categories.
Summary
A flaw was found in the AAP Controller's HashiCorp Vault credential plugin. An authenticated attacker with credential-creation privileges can exfiltrate the service account token, gaining Kubernetes API access to the control plane namespaces with full pod CRUD and secret read permissions, including database credentials and the Django SECRET_KEY.
The vulnerability is particularly impactful in AAP Cloud (managed service) environments where the Kubernetes control plane is managed by Red Hat and tenant isolation is a security boundary. On-premise deployments are also affected, though the impact is lower since the administrator already has access to the infrastructure.
The vulnerable code path exists in all AAP versions that ship the hashivault credential plugin with kubernetes_role authentication support. Red Hat severity: Critical — CVSS 9.6 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N).
Weakness: CWE-918. Affected Red Hat products: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.
Red Hat does not currently list a fixing RHSA for this CVE.
Affected versions
No affected-version range was extracted from the source record. The vendor advisory is authoritative — check it before change work.
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 2 hours ago·verify at source
Fixed versions
No fixed release is recorded yet. That does not prove no patch exists — confirm against the vendor advisory.
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 2 hours ago·verify at source
Mitigation checklist
- The following practices would help for avoiding exposure and mitigate this flaw: - Restrict network egress from controller pods using Kubernetes NetworkPolicy to prevent outbound connections to untrusted destinations. Only allow connections to known Vault server endpoints. - Review and restrict the RBAC permissions of the automation-controller service account to follow the principle of least privilege. Remove unnecessary secret read access. - In AAP Cloud environments, audit credential-creation activity for suspicious HashiCorp Vault credentials with external or unusual URLs. - Monitor Kubernetes audit logs for unexpected API calls using the automation-controller service account, particularly secret reads and pod operations from EE pods. - Rotate the automation-controller service account token if unauthorized access is suspected. - Consider restricting the "create credential" privilege to only trusted administrators until the fix is available.
Official advisory · high-confidence parse· fetched 2 hours ago·verify at source
Discussion(0)
No comments yet. Share field notes, upgrade gotchas, or questions — verify against the vendor advisory before acting on community advice.
Sign in to join the discussion.