---
id: CVE-2026-12564
title: A flaw was found in the AAP Controller's HashiCorp Vault credential plugin
summary: >-
  A flaw was found in the AAP Controller's HashiCorp Vault credential plugin.
  The kubernetes_auth() function in awx_plugins/credentials/hashivault.py reads
  the controller pod's Kubernetes service account token and sends it to an
  attacker-c…
severity: critical
cvss: 9.6
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N'
cwe:
  - CWE-918
vendor: Red Hat
product: automation-controller
affected:
  - automation-controller (all versions)
  - automation-controller (all versions)
  - automation-controller (all versions)
  - automation-controller (all versions)
  - automation-controller (all versions)
  - ansible-automation-platform-26/controller-rhel9 (all versions)
  - ansible-automation-platform-27/controller-rhel9 (all versions)
patched:
  - ansible_automation_platform 2.7
published: '2026-08-18'
updated: '2026-09-24'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-24T06:16:58.860'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12564'
references:
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:67279'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71113'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71114'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71115'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71179'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12564'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2490556'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-12564.json
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-12564'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12564'
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-08-18T19:43:25.467171Z'
epss: 0.00348
epssPercentile: 0.25757
ingestedAt: '2026-09-21T11:35:54.429Z'
---

## Overview

A flaw was found in the AAP Controller's HashiCorp Vault credential plugin. The kubernetes_auth() function in awx_plugins/credentials/hashivault.py reads the controller pod's Kubernetes service account token and sends it to an attacker-controlled URL when a HashiCorp Vault Secret Lookup credential with kubernetes_role authentication is tested. 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.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.

## Vendor advisories

- **RHSA-2026:67279** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.7 · released 2026-09-14 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:67279)
- **Red Hat VEX** · Critical · affected: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 · no fix planned: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 · updated 2026-09-21 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-12564.json)
- **RHSA-2026:71115** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 9 · released 2026-09-23 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71115)
- **RHSA-2026:71114** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 8, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 for RHEL 9 · released 2026-09-23 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71114)
- **RHSA-2026:71113** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 for RHEL 9 · released 2026-09-23 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71113)
- **RHSA-2026:71179** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.6 · released 2026-09-23 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71179)