CVE-2026-52902: Awxkit: path traversal via yaml !include directive

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-52902 is a medium (CVSS 4.7) vulnerability in awxkit PyPI. EPSS estimates a 0.13% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 2.4% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 09-06-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 24-08-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

A path traversal vulnerability was found in awxkit, the CLI tool for AWX. The YAML !include directive does not sanitize file paths, allowing an attacker to craft a malicious YAML file that reads arbitrary YAML-formatted files from the local filesystem when a user imports it using "awx --conf.format yaml import". This is a client-side vulnerability requiring user interaction.

• CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted DirectoryThe product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.