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OpenstackApplication · Redhat

CVE-2021-31918

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-05-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
A flaw was found in tripleo-ansible version as shipped in Red Hat Openstack 16.1. The Ansible log file is readable to all users during stack update and creation. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality.

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 confidence

In tripleo-ansible as shipped in Red Hat OpenStack 16.1, Ansible log files created during stack update and creation operations are set with world-readable permissions (likely 0644), allowing any local user to read potentially sensitive information contained in the logs such as credentials, configuration details, and infrastructure specifics.

MitigationConfigure the Ansible logging mechanism to create log files with restrictive permissions (e.g., 0600 or 0640) so only authorized users can read them, or relocate logs to a directory with restricted access.

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
OpenstackApplication
Affected:= 16.1

CVSS 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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Red Hat OpenStack Platform version
    Run 'openstack version show' or check /etc/rhosp-version/rhosp-release to verify the installed version is 16.1
    Affected if The environment is running Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.1 or later versions derived from this release
  2. Locate Ansible log directories
    Check common tripleo-ansible log paths such as /var/log/containers/ansible, /var/log/tripleo, or the directory specified in the Ansible logging configuration under /etc/tripleo/ or in the heat template parameters
    Affected if Ansible logs from stack update or creation operations exist in world-readable directories
  3. Identify log files created during stack operations
    List files in the identified log directories and look for files with names indicating ansible execution, such as ansible.log, tripleo-ansible.log, or deployment_*.log, noting their creation timestamps
    Affected if Log files from recent stack update or create operations exist in the environment
  4. Check file permissions on Ansible logs
    Run 'ls -la' on the identified log files to inspect the permission bits (e.g., 0644, 0777) and owner/group values
    Affected if Log files show permissions of 0644, 0640, or any permission allowing world or group read access (e.g., 'rw-r--r--' or 'rw-r-----')
  5. Verify other local users can read the logs
    As a non-root user (or using 'su - username'), attempt to read one of the identified log files using 'cat' or 'less' on the log file path
    Affected if Non-privileged local users can successfully read the content of Ansible log files containing deployment data

A user is affected if they are running Red Hat OpenStack 16.1 and any Ansible log files from stack operations have permissions allowing read access by users other than the file owner (e.g., 0644 or wider).

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Configure the Ansible logging mechanism to create log files with restrictive permissions (e.g., 0600 or 0640) so only authorized users can read them, or relocate logs to a directory with restricted access.

Fix this in Openstack Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-31918 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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