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Ansible Automation Platform Early AccessApplication · Redhat

CVE-2021-4112

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 ansible-tower where the default installation is vulnerable to job isolation escape. This flaw allows an attacker to elevate the privilege from a low privileged user to an AWX user from outside the isolated environment.

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 · moderate confidence

A job isolation escape vulnerability in Ansible Tower/AWX default installations allows a low-privileged user to escape the isolated job execution environment and escalate privileges to the AWX system user, enabling unauthorized access to host resources outside the intended isolation boundary.

MitigationConfigure and enforce proper job isolation settings including container_attachable_mounts, ansible_service_type, and job_isolation_mount_path to prevent escape from the isolated environment.

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
Ansible Automation Platform Early AccessApplication
Affected:= 2.0
Ansible Automation Platform Text Only AdvisoriesApplication
Affected:all versions
Ansible TowerApplication
Affected:= 3.0
Ansible Automation PlatformApplication
Affected:= 2.0= 2.1

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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 checks

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

  1. Identify AWX or Ansible Tower installation
    Check if the AWX or Ansible Tower web service is running. Look for the presence of the awx or ansible-tower package, or check the installed RPM packages using 'rpm -qa | grep -i awx' or 'rpm -qa | grep -i ansible-tower'.
    Affected if The product is installed and the version matches one of the affected versions: Ansible Tower 3.0, Ansible Automation Platform 2.0, or Ansible Automation Platform 2.1.
  2. Determine the installed version
    Retrieve the exact version number of the installed AWX or Ansible Tower. For RPM-based systems, run 'rpm -qa | grep -i awx' or check the tower-cli version with 'awx --version' or 'ansible-tower --version' if available.
    Affected if The installed version is 3.0 (Tower), 2.0 (Automation Platform), or 2.1 (Automation Platform).
  3. Inspect job isolation configuration
    Examine the Tower or AWX configuration files and settings for job isolation. Look for the 'job_isolation_mount_path' setting in the Tower settings UI under 'Jobs' section, or check the 'settings.py' configuration file. Also verify if 'container_attachable_mounts' and 'ansible_service_type' are explicitly configured.
    Affected if The job isolation settings are at their default values, undefined, or not explicitly configured, meaning the default isolation boundary is in effect.
  4. Check if custom isolation mount path is defined
    Access the Ansible Tower or AWX web UI, navigate to Settings > Jobs > Job Execution, and verify the 'Job Isolation Mount Path' setting. Alternatively, query the API endpoint '/api/v2/settings/jobs/' and look for the 'JOB_ISOLATION_MOUNT_PATH' parameter.
    Affected if The 'job_isolation_mount_path' is not set, set to an insecure path, or left at default, allowing potential escape from the isolated environment.
  5. Verify container mount configuration
    Check the '/etc/tower/conf.d/' directory for custom settings files, or query the API '/api/v2/settings/all/' to review 'CONTAINER_ATTACHABLE_MOUNTS' configuration. Ensure no sensitive host paths are exposed to isolated job containers.
    Affected if The 'container_attachable_mounts' setting either allows access to sensitive host directories or is not explicitly restricted, enabling a low-privileged job user to access host resources outside the isolation boundary.

A user is affected if they have Ansible Tower 3.0 or Ansible Automation Platform 2.0/2.1 installed with default or improperly configured job isolation settings, allowing a low-privileged job to escape the isolated environment and access host resources.

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 and enforce proper job isolation settings including container_attachable_mounts, ansible_service_type, and job_isolation_mount_path to prevent escape from the isolated environment.

Fix this in Ansible Automation Platform Early Access Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
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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-2021-4112 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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