Vulnerabilities in pkg:pypi/ansible-jailexec

PACKAGE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-cxgv-hp74-jj7r
Share
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-55074 is a HIGH jail escape vulnerability (CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')) affecting Ansible jailexec libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves jail escape via symlink following in put_file (host-side root mv). Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.0.0.

1 Known Advisory Record(s)
Package Vulnerability Intelligence

pkg:pypi/ansible-jailexec

1 Known Advisory Record(s)

Vulnerability advisories affecting package pkg:pypi/ansible-jailexec. Select an advisory below to view technical details or fixes.

Advisory ID CVE / NVD Severity Summary
GHSA-cxgv-hp74-jj7r CVE-2026-55074 HIGH Ansible FreeBSD Jail Connection Plugin: Jail escape via symlink following in put_file (host-side root mv)

CVE-2026-55074 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-55074
GHSA Identifier GHSA-cxgv-hp74-jj7r
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
Affected Product Ansible jailexec
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2026-55074

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Ansible jailexec 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-jailexec fixed: 2.0.0 
pip install ansible-jailexec>=2.0.0
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-jailexec

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2026-55074, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show ansible-jailexec

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Ansible jailexec in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.0.0), your application is affected.

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

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following'), where the product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource. In Ansible jailexec, 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

Through version 1.3.0, the jailexec connection plugin's put_file resolved a transfer's destination to a path on the jail host (<jail filesystem root> + <destination>) and ran mkdir -p and mv there as root on the host. Those commands follow symbolic links, and the path was operated on outside the jail, so a symlink existing inside the jail was followed by the host-side, root-privileged mv. A party controlling content inside a managed jail (the jail's root, or any process able to create a symlink in a directory an Ansible task later writes to) can therefore cause an arbitrary root-owned write on the host, outside the jail — a full jail escape. Arbitrary root-owned host writes are readily escalated to host compromise (e.g. cron, rc.d, authorized_keys). Preconditions: the operator runs a copy/template/fetch-style task (anything using put_file) against the jail, and the attacker can place a symlink inside the jail at or above the task's destination before the transfer runs. Patches: Fixed in 2.0.0. File transfers now run inside the jail via jexec (mkdir -p <dir> && cat > <dest> for put_file; cat < <src> for fetch_file), so every path resolves within the jail's chroot. An in-jail symlink can at most redirect within the same jail and can no longer reach the host. Workarounds: None in affected versions; upgrade to 2.0.0.

CVE-2026-55074 Affected Ansible jailexec Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.0.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
ansible-jailexec
pypi/ansible-jailexec
PyPI
< 2.0.0
2.0.0

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/chofstede/ansible_jailexec/security/advisories/GHSA-cxgv-hp74-jj7r
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/chofstede/ansible_jailexec/commit/6e80eecb2db7aebd1258fded6ae5c3aba1dd4123
Ansible jailexec Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/chofstede/ansible_jailexec

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-55074?
CVE-2026-55074 is a security vulnerability in Ansible jailexec involving Jail escape via symlink following in put_file (host-side root mv) under CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following').
Which Ansible jailexec versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.0.0 across affected packages: ansible-jailexec.
What version fixes CVE-2026-55074?
Upgrading to 2.0.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is ansible-jailexec affected?
Yes, ansible-jailexec is affected in releases prior to 2.0.0. Upgrade your dependency to 2.0.0 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-55074?
CVE-2026-55074 is classified under CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') (The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2026-55074?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show ansible-jailexec'. 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-cxgv-hp74-jj7r",
  "modified" : "2026-08-13T15:58:53Z",
  "published" : "2026-08-12T23:21:06Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-55074" ],
  "summary" : "Ansible FreeBSD Jail Connection Plugin: Jail escape via symlink following in put_file (host-side root mv)",
  "details" : "Through version 1.3.0, the jailexec connection plugin's put_file resolved a transfer's destination to a path on the jail host (<jail filesystem root> + <destination>) and ran mkdir -p and mv there as root on the host. Those commands follow symbolic links, and the path was operated on outside the jail, so a symlink existing inside the jail was followed by the host-side, root-privileged mv.\n\nA party controlling content inside a managed jail (the jail's root, or any process able to create a symlink in a directory an Ansible task later writes to) can therefore cause an arbitrary root-owned write on the host, outside the jail — a full jail escape. Arbitrary root-owned host writes are readily escalated to host compromise (e.g. cron, rc.d, authorized_keys).\n\nPreconditions: the operator runs a copy/template/fetch-style task (anything using put_file) against the jail, and the attacker can place a symlink inside the jail at or above the task's destination before the transfer runs.\n\nPatches: Fixed in 2.0.0. File transfers now run inside the jail via jexec (mkdir -p <dir> && cat > <dest> for put_file; cat < <src> for fetch_file), so every path resolves within the jail's chroot. An in-jail symlink can at most redirect within the same jail and can no longer reach the host.\n\nWorkarounds: None in affected versions; upgrade to 2.0.0.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "ansible-jailexec"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.0.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/chofstede/ansible_jailexec/security/advisories/GHSA-cxgv-hp74-jj7r"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/chofstede/ansible_jailexec/commit/6e80eecb2db7aebd1258fded6ae5c3aba1dd4123"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/chofstede/ansible_jailexec"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-59" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-08-12T23:21:06Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}