Ansible Automation PlatformApplication · Redhat
CVE-2023-4237
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 · uneditedA flaw was found in the Ansible Automation Platform. When creating a new keypair, the ec2_key module prints out the private key directly to the standard output. This flaw allows an attacker to fetch those keys from the log files, compromising the system's confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
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 confidenceThe ec2_key module in Ansible Automation Platform incorrectly outputs private keys to standard output during keypair creation, causing sensitive cryptographic material to be written to logs. This exposes SSH or other private keys which can be recovered by attackers with access to log files.
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 PlatformApplication
= 2.0
Ansible CollectionApplication
all versionsCVSS 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
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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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Check your Ansible Automation Platform versionRun 'ansible --version' or check the AAP installation to determine if it is version 2.0Affected if The version is exactly 2.0 (all versions of Ansible Collection are also affected regardless of AAP version)
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Identify use of the ec2_key moduleSearch your playbook repositories and automation jobs for tasks using the 'ec2_key' module, for example: 'grep -r "ec2_key" /path/to/playbooks/'Affected if The ec2_key module is used in any playbook or automation task
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Verify no_log parameter is not set for ec2_key tasksReview each ec2_key task in your playbooks and check if 'no_log: true' or 'no_log: True' is configuredAffected if ec2_key is used and no_log is not set to true (the default false allows private key leakage)
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Search for private key material in Ansible logsSearch log files (such as /var/log/ansible.log, /var/log/ansible-runner.log, or AWX/Tower job logs) for patterns matching '-----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----' or '-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----'Affected if Private key material is found in any Ansible-related log files
You are affected if you use the ec2_key module in Ansible Automation Platform 2.0 or any Ansible Collection version without configuring no_log=True, and your logs may contain exposed private keys.
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 dataConfigure the ec2_key module with no_log=True to prevent private key exposure in logs, rotate all potentially exposed keys, and audit/clean existing log files that may contain leaked private keys.
Fix this in Ansible Automation Platform
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-4237 — 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-2023-4237 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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