AnsibleApplication · Redhat
CVE-2017-7466
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAnsible before version 2.3 has an input validation vulnerability in the handling of data sent from client systems. An attacker with control over a client system being managed by Ansible, and the ability to send facts back to the Ansible server, could use this flaw to execute arbitrary code on the Ansible server using the Ansible server privileges.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceAnsible before version 2.3 contains an input validation vulnerability in how it processes data sent from managed client systems. An attacker controlling a managed node can send specially crafted facts back to the Ansible server, allowing arbitrary code execution with Ansible server privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
AnsibleApplication
< 2.3
OpenstackApplication
= 10= 11CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Ansible installationRun `ansible --version` on the system acting as the Ansible controller to retrieve the installed version number.Affected if The version shown is earlier than 2.3.0 (for example, 2.2.x, 2.1.x, or 2.0.x).
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Confirm Red Hat OpenStack versionIf running Red Hat OpenStack, check the installed OpenStack version by running `openstack --version` or consulting the package management system with `rpm -qa | grep openstack-ansible`.Affected if The OpenStack version is exactly 10 or exactly 11.
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Determine if facts gathering is activeInspect the Ansible configuration file (ansible.cfg) or the playbook being used for the `gathering` setting. Run `ansible-config dump | grep GATHERING` if available.Affected if Facts gathering is set to 'smart', 'implicit', or 'explicit' (the default behavior), which means data is collected from managed nodes.
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Verify managed node connectivityReview the Ansible inventory file (commonly `inventory` or `hosts` file) to identify the managed nodes that the Ansible controller connects to.Affected if The inventory contains untrusted or internet-facing managed nodes that could potentially send malicious data back to the controller.
A user is affected if they run Ansible version 2.2 or earlier, or OpenStack version 10 or 11, and have managed nodes configured that could send crafted facts back to the controller.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data2.3
Upgrade to Ansible 2.3 or later to address the input validation flaw. Additionally, restrict which systems can connect to the Ansible server and implement network segmentation to limit exposure from potentially compromised managed nodes.
Fix this in Ansible
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,592.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-7466 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-7466 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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