CVE-2020-10685: Ansible Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-77g3-3j5w-64w4
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CVSS 5.5
CWE-668 CWE-377 CWE-459
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-10685 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.5) remote code execution vulnerability (CWE-668: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere) affecting Ansible libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves exposure of resource to wrong sphere and insecure temporary file in ansible. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.7.17, 2.8.11, 2.9.7.

CVE-2020-10685 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-10685
GHSA Identifier GHSA-77g3-3j5w-64w4
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.5
CWE Classification CWE-668: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere
Affected Product Ansible
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N).

Attack Vector Local (AV:L)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2020-10685

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Ansible dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

ansible fixed: 2.7.17 
pip install ansible>=2.7.17
ansible fixed: 2.8.11 
pip install ansible>=2.8.11
ansible fixed: 2.9.7 
pip install ansible>=2.9.7
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show ansible

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2020-10685, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show ansible

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Ansible in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.7.17), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show ansible command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-668: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere, where the product exposes a resource to the wrong control sphere, providing unintended actors with inappropriate access to the resource. In Ansible, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

A flaw was found in Ansible Engine affecting Ansible Engine versions 2.7.x before 2.7.17 and 2.8.x before 2.8.11 and 2.9.x before 2.9.7 as well as Ansible Tower before and including versions 3.4.5 and 3.5.5 and 3.6.3 when using modules which decrypts vault files such as assemble, script, unarchive, win_copy, aws_s3 or copy modules. The temporary directory is created in /tmp leaves the s ts unencrypted. On Operating Systems which /tmp is not a tmpfs but part of the root partition, the directory is only cleared on boot and the decryp emains when the host is switched off. The system will be vulnerable when the system is not running. So decrypted data must be cleared as soon as possible and the data which normally is encrypted ble.

CVE-2020-10685 Affected Ansible Versions

3 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.7.172.8.112.9.7
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
ansible
pypi/ansible
PyPI
≥ 2.7.0a1
< 2.7.17
2.7.17
ansible
pypi/ansible
PyPI
≥ 2.8.0a1
< 2.8.11
2.8.11
ansible
pypi/ansible
PyPI
≥ 2.9.0a1
< 2.9.7
2.9.7

References

NVD — CVE-2020-10685 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-10685
Ansible Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/68433
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/ansible/ansible/commit/4e1fe80e681fa466626e9dea53efe6b0253ea1b2
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/ansible/ansible/commit/51d2514753544a9d58cd7524e27e696b2c944fb5
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/ansible/ansible/commit/e1273b6faf036ed84e4f4edee85b888a4e256aee
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2020-10685
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-77g3-3j5w-64w4
Ansible Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/ansible/ansible
Ansible Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/ansible/PYSEC-2020-1.yaml
Ansible Security Information SECURITY
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202006-11
Ansible Security Information SECURITY
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4950

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-10685?
CVE-2020-10685 is a security vulnerability in Ansible involving Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere and Insecure Temporary File in Ansible under CWE-668: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere.
Which Ansible versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.7.17, 2.8.11, 2.9.7 across affected packages: ansible.
What version fixes CVE-2020-10685?
Upgrading to 2.7.17, 2.8.11, 2.9.7 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is ansible affected?
Yes, ansible is affected in releases prior to 2.7.17, 2.8.11, 2.9.7. Upgrade your dependency to 2.7.17, 2.8.11, 2.9.7 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-10685?
CVE-2020-10685 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-10685?
CVE-2020-10685 is classified under CWE-668: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere (The product exposes a resource to the wrong control sphere, providing unintended actors with inappropriate access to the resource.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2020-10685?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show ansible'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-77g3-3j5w-64w4",
  "modified" : "2024-09-06T20:16:43Z",
  "published" : "2021-04-07T20:36:46Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-10685" ],
  "summary" : "Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere and Insecure Temporary File in Ansible",
  "details" : "A flaw was found in Ansible Engine affecting Ansible Engine versions 2.7.x before 2.7.17 and 2.8.x before 2.8.11 and 2.9.x before 2.9.7 as well as Ansible Tower before and including versions 3.4.5 and 3.5.5 and 3.6.3 when using modules which decrypts vault files such as assemble, script, unarchive, win_copy, aws_s3 or copy modules. The temporary directory is created in /tmp leaves the s ts unencrypted. On Operating Systems which /tmp is not a tmpfs but part of the root partition, the directory is only cleared on boot and the decryp emains when the host is switched off. The system will be vulnerable when the system is not running. So decrypted data must be cleared as soon as possible and the data which normally is encrypted ble.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "ansible"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.7.0a1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.7.17"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "ansible"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.8.0a1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.8.11"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "ansible"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.9.0a1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.9.7"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-10685"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/68433"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ansible/ansible/commit/4e1fe80e681fa466626e9dea53efe6b0253ea1b2"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ansible/ansible/commit/51d2514753544a9d58cd7524e27e696b2c944fb5"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ansible/ansible/commit/e1273b6faf036ed84e4f4edee85b888a4e256aee"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2020-10685"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-77g3-3j5w-64w4"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ansible/ansible"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/ansible/PYSEC-2020-1.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202006-11"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4950"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-377", "CWE-459", "CWE-668" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-04-05T14:11:30Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2020-05-11T14:15:00Z"
  }
}