Auth bypass in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2

CVE-2026-16544

A flaw was found in AWX. The websocket event consumer performs RBAC authorization checks only for event groups that are mapped in the consumer_access() function (job_events, workflow_events, ad_hoc_command_events). Three event groups - inventory_update_events, project_update_events, and system_job_events — are not mapped, causing the authorization check to be skipped. Any authenticated user can subscribe to these unmapped websocket event groups for any object ID and receive real-time stdout output from jobs belonging to organizations they have no access to. This is an incomplete remediation of CVE-2020-10698.

Vulnerability class: Broken Access Control

EPSS: 0.004 (31.6th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 6.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-16544?
CVE-2026-16544 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2, classified under Missing Authorization. CVSS score: 6.5/10. Published 2026-07-22.
How severe is CVE-2026-16544?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.5 out of 10.