CVE-2026-84717: Automation-controller: automation-controller: unauthenticated 200-vs-403 oracle in bitbucket data center webhook receiver enumerates webhook-enabled job templates

Published Sep 2, 2026
·
Updated

A flaw was found in the Ansible Automation Platform automation-controller webhook receivers. The Bitbucket Data Center webhook receiver at POST /api/controller/v2/{jobtemplates,workflowjobtemplates}/<pk>/bitbucketdc/ is intentionally unauthenticated (permissionclasses=(AllowAny,), authenticationclasses=()) and authorizes requests by verifying an HMAC over the request body keyed by the per-template webhookkey. BitbucketDcWebhookReceiver.mustchecksignature() returns False when the X-Event-Key request header is 'diagnostics:ping', because Bitbucket does not sign ping requests. This carve-out is evaluated only after the receiver has already resolved the target template: getobject() filters templates to those with webhookservice='bitbucketdc' and a non-empty webhookkey and raises PermissionDenied (HTTP 403) when no template matches, whereas a matching template proceeds past the skipped signature check to the ping short-circuit and returns HTTP 200 with the body "Webhook ignored". As a result, an unauthenticated remote attacker who sends a diagnostics:ping request to each template ID observes a 200-vs-403 response discrepancy that reveals exactly which Job Template and Workflow Job Template IDs have Bitbucket DC webhooks configured, with no credentials and no knowledge of the webhookkey. This is unauthenticated reconnaissance: it confirms valid template IDs, reveals which automation is wired to Bitbucket Data Center, and lets an attacker focus subsequent webhookkey brute-force or SCM-side spoofing attempts on the small set of templates that would actually accept signed payloads. The ping path performs no action and no secret values are disclosed.

Upstream: https://github.com/ansible/tower (awx) Affected file: awx/api/views/webhooks.py:306-308 (BitbucketDcWebhookReceiver.mustchecksignature), with webhooks.py:69-78 (getobject) and :144-146 (post ping short-circuit)

Other sources

A flaw was found in the Ansible Automation Platform automation-controller. The unauthenticated Bitbucket Data Center webhook receiver skips HMAC signature verification for diagnostics:ping events after it has already looked up the target template, causing the endpoint to return HTTP 200 for a template that has a Bitbucket DC webhook configured and HTTP 403 otherwise. An unauthenticated remote attacker can use this response discrepancy as an oracle to enumerate which Job Template and Workflow Job Template IDs have Bitbucket DC webhooks configured, without knowing the secret webhookkey.

— MITRE

Affected Software

1 affected component
Ansible automation-controller

Event History

Sep 2, 2026
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·01:15 AM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Sep 23, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·07:40 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·07:40 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Data Sourced
via NVD·08:17 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness

Frequently Asked Questions

1

Does exploitation require valid credentials or knowledge of a template's webhook key?

No. An unauthenticated remote attacker can send requests with the X-Event-Key header set to diagnostics:ping; this request type bypasses signature verification and does not require the per-template webhook key.

2

Which templates can be identified through this behavior?

The oracle identifies Job Templates and Workflow Job Templates configured with webhook_service set to bitbucket_dc and a non-empty webhook_key. Templates that do not meet those conditions return HTTP 403 rather than the HTTP 200 response associated with a matching template.

3

What response pattern indicates that a template ID is affected?

A POST to the Bitbucket Data Center webhook receiver for a matching template ID with X-Event-Key: diagnostics:ping returns HTTP 200 and the body "Webhook ignored". A nonmatching target returns HTTP 403.

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